Legacy of a Heretic
by Red Squirrel Writer
Summary: Many fates collide as a lone meerkat, branded by shame, suddenly becomes a conquered kingdom's sole hope for salvation at the request of its king. Can four outcasts fight their way to heroism?
1. Chapter 1

The darkness beneath Kwazulu Rock was oppressive, humid, and blank. For Kato, it offered no respite from the endless, cold black, which smothered his eyes when he opened them. He always kept them closed now, because it didn't matter whether or not he opened them. But he could still smell, and that counted for quite a bit. From the right he noticed the rather pungent odor of a mongoose, who had probably not noticed him yet. That seemed very unlikely, as it seemed like Kato had been down here forever, even though it had most certainly only been four or five days. Already it had nearly driven him mad. This was worse than any tunnel he had ever dug. Despite being a meerkat, Kato hated it when the darkness got like this. There was no comforting feel of the dirt beneath his paws, or the reassuring scent of his fellows. There was simply him and the walls down here. Him and that mongoose. Kato had tried to say something to him (or at least Kato supposed it was a him), but he had gotten no answer.

So he had curled up on the cold floor to wait. There was a little rivulet of water running along the rear of his prison, but to a creature his size it may as well have been a stream. Water was the only thing that kept his belly truly full. Occasionally small insects of the like he had never seen before would crawl in, and he would be upon them in an instant, gobbling them down with relish. Other than that he was given nothing. Perhaps the mongoose had been on the verge of dying, like he soon would be, and that was why Kato hadn't gotten an answer. He was sharing this prison with a carcass. He wasn't desperate yet, but he knew he'd be longing for the meat off that corpse sooner or later.

Justice in Kwazulu had a habit of taking its time.

Kato wasn't sure whether he deserved that justice. He had been brought here on charges of murder and heresy against the Circle, but he couldn't quite remember committing either crime. One thing he did remember was the blood. Whose it was, he didn't know, and couldn't tell. Things were too complicated for any introspection. He wasn't sure he could prove his innocence at this point. Everyone up top thought he was insane, and even he was beginning to think so. He had seen the bodies. Only a mad beast could do what he had supposedly done. Absently, he rubbed at the back of his neck, feeling the mark there that had been burned into him at the end of his conviction.

"Well, well, well," came a rough, soft voice from the direction of the mongoose, interrupting Kato's thoughts as a lion interrupts the breath of a gazelle with its fangs. It took a moment for Kato to realize it was actually the mongoose himself speaking. Kato, taking whatever pride he could at the moment, thought himself terribly clever for guessing correctly the mongoose was a he.

"A puny little dirt scrubber," said the mongoose. Kato felt indignant. Mongooses were only so far removed from meerkats, after all, but anyone could be nasty if they wanted to.

"I suppose they're running out of impressive law breakers up there," said the mongoose. "Otherwise they'd never bother with a little gnat of a thing like you. What was it, meerkat? Did one of the precious princes fall into one of your holes? Slip a scorpion into one of the fresh kills?"

Kato didn't answer. He curled his tail tighter around himself and tried to shut out the mocking voice. Suddenly he wished to be alone again.

"I don't suppose they'll even try to make a show of you. It's not as if anyone would want to attend the execution of a pint-sized offender like yourself. They probably wouldn't even care if you escaped. So worthless. It's a wonder you're even down here. It must have been something really terrible."

Kato sighed, but not loud enough for the mongoose to hear.

"I bet it was murder. One of the lionesses called you heretic when they tossed you down here. Even the ancestors have abandoned you, heretic! They've probably all forgotten about you on the outside! Your colony will be glad to see a shameful reminder like you die, heretic! I hope your mother watches when they rip your head from your body! That's right, heretic! You're going to die. Nobody ever escapes Abasi's sick version of justice! And they call _us _heretics! Ha ha ha!"

Kato opened his eyes, feeling weary.

"You must have been down here for a long time, huh?" he said. The mongoose seemed to not hear him, or was pretending he didn't.

"You're going to _die._ Nice and slow. I wonder if they'll blame your family for your heresy. Got a female friend back home?"

"No."

"I'd love to see the look on her face when they kill her too for your heresy."

"I said I didn't have a-"

"Shut up! I'm not done! I know what you're doing! You're still hoping! You're still alive! Stop it, you hear me? There's no place for hope here. It's death! That's all that awaits you! I'm insulting you because there's nothing better to do, so indulge me, meerkat. You're dead meat. Both of us."

It was quiet for a while after that. Another day, perhaps. Kato was woken up by a centipede crawling across his face. A lucky catch. He ate it quickly, his stomach aching the whole way. He was about to curl back up on the floor and go to sleep again when the mongoose piped up once more.

"I hear something. Sounds like lions. Ooo, I bet they've come to kill you at last, meerkat! They're coming. Coming for _you."_

Kato didn't answer. Suddenly, the dullness that had been present in his chest evaporated, replaced by the tight feeling of fear. After so long of just waiting and sleeping, the desire to not die was incredibly strong. Almost painful. Kato sat up, trying to gulp, but his throat was too tight to allow anything through. Was this really how it was going to end? After everything he had been through? Just a swipe of a lion's paw and then he'd be seated with his ancestors, or consigned to a shameful eternity of darkness? He strained to hear more than pawsteps. They weren't talking about him.

"Hurry, your majesty. We probably only have a few minutes at best."

That was the stern, resounding voice of Abasi. The captain of the King's Claws. Overseer of justice, and settler of all disputes. Nobody really knew why another male had been accepted as part of the pride, especially when Abasi had, from what Kato heard, come as a youngster to the monarchy. But he and the king had grown up as brothers. For the sake of propriety Abasi was destined to never take the throne under any circumstance, anyway.

"I need to rest." That was a voice Kato had never heard before. It was soft, and warm. Tired. He wondered what was going on. Was it the king? Abasi had said "your majesty" to someone.

"There is no time for that, sire!" The third voice was that of a lioness. It sounded slick, snappy, like a snake curling up for the strike. Kato didn't know her either. Then the second voice _was _the king, from what he had heard!

The pawsteps ended outside of his 'cell.' Kato's heart beat quickened to a feverish pace. They were here to kill him, and then move on to whatever business they were attending to. He was going to die in the dark. As he likely deserved.

"Get this stone out of the way!"

Abasi must have done the pushing. Only a lion as powerful as he could even budge the great stone that held Kato in his cell. He felt himself taking several involuntary steps back, his instincts forcing him to try and draw out his last moments on Earth. Through the gloom that his eyes had long become accustomed to, he saw the mighty, powerful, dark furred form of Abasi the Arbiter filling out the entrance, blocking any hope of escape. He took three long steps forward, and Kato squeaked out what he knew would be his last breath. Abasi halted, then looked down at the meerkat, as though it was the first time he had noticed him.

"What…" he began, "What is this prisoner doing here? You aren't supposed to be here! Who are you!"

Suddenly the once shocked and stilled form of Abasi was threatening again. Kato pressed himself against the opposite wall, not daring to say a word.

"Abasi, peace! Let me see," commanded that gentle voice from behind. Kato looked upwards, over Abasi's broad shoulders. From behind stepped a frail, thin lion of sharp contrast to his brawny companion. His mane was as dark as any youngster in their prime, but his face was weathered and cracked by years of strain. His body was shaky, and his gait unsure. It was a wonder he was walking in a straight line. Kato shook his head slowly. No… no, this was not the king. No king would let himself be as unpresentable as this.

But the eyes were what caught him up the most. They were old, drooping, full of time and despair and compassion and any number of things that both terrified and ennobled the tiny meerkat that stood before these visions of power and nobility, of pain and exhaustion. The old one spoke.

"You… you are the one my shaman revealed in his drawings," he said slowly, appearing to be disbelieving at first. His haggard eyes dropped for but a moment then rose again. Kato noticed they were surprisingly bright in the middle of this gloom.

"I have dreamed of your face ever since the shaman showed it to me," continued the old lion. His voice reminded Kato of his old colony's storytellers. "The stars themselves have whispered in my ears… to think that we would meet here, of all places, of all times. Then my deepest fears are affirmed."

Kato finally seemed to realize he wasn't dead or bleeding fast to it on the floor from a swipe of Abasi's giant paw.

"Wh… who are you?" he asked in a whisper that could barely be called a voice. Had he begun to forget how to speak in such a claustrophobic place as this?

"I am Tafari, second born to Taharka. I am your king, young one, although, not for much longer," said the old lion. Kato's heart skipped a beat, and he broke into a cold sweat. The king himself was here! To do what? To order his execution? To stop by for a chat? They seemed to be running from something. Kato's mind flooded with a thousand questions, one for each bead of sweat that poured down his fur.

Before the king could explain, the lioness stepped forward. Kato could see her tawny fur slick with blood, but whether or not it was hers was unclear. Her snout was sharp and ready, just like her entire disposition. Her whiskers hardly drooped at all, and she stalked right over Kato, pressing against the wall the meerkat stood against.

"Do not speak like that, sire! There is still time! Abasi, help me!" The two felines gave a great shove… and the pile of rocks and stones gave way to an even darker passageway beyond. The dust and debris of ages past swept into the chamber.

In wonder, Kato stepped back, until he bumped into the foreleg of the king himself. He looked up to see if he had committed some unpardonable offense. Things were happening too fast. But Tafari had hardly noticed. In fact, when he glanced down at Kato, there seemed to be the slightest flicker of a sad smile on his weathered muzzle. But perhaps it was just the angle Kato was watching from, or the bad light. It disappeared in a moment.

"Stay out of the way, heretic," said Abasi, glaring at Kato like he was the next in line for a hunt. "Speak a word out of turn and I'll squash you like the bug you are."

Kato followed the lions out. He didn't have any other choice. This was freedom… or at least a chance to it. His thoughts went fleetingly to the mongoose that had insulted him earlier. Should he be freed too? Or was his offense justly being punished? He heard a ghost of a snigger on the stale air, which startled him so that he darted in amongst the comforting strength of the lions' legs.

"The rest of my family… all of them," said the king, mournfully, but levelly, "they are dead, are they not?"

There was a silence.

"Perhaps, sire," said the lioness. "We don't know for sure… but…"

"No," interrupted Tafari, as though he wanted it to be true that his dear ones were gone, "they are given up to the stars… the arrival of the small one has proven this."

Kato felt a twinge of embarrassment and terror all at once.

"Sire…" began Abasi, but whatever he was going to say was not going to be enough. It was quiet again. The tunnel went on, never lightening. It went left and right once each, but otherwise remained fairly level. Everyone seemed to have forgotten that everyone else was there.

"Stop," said Abasi at last, in a whisper. "There is trouble ahead."

"Stay here, sire. And you, prisoner," said the lioness. They stalked forward, swallowed by the darkness. Kato listened with bated breath. He wanted to ask Tafari what was going on. Why was he here and not dead? Why had the king come through his prison? What were they running from? Who was dead? What was happening? But all that came out was his nervous breathing. Tafari spoke to him in a mumble.

"Death has come upon us, young one," he said. "We are being stalked. Be grateful for your life. It may not go on much longer. My family is dead, and their killers stalk these halls."

Kato could only squeeze out a disturbed whimper. Voice had left him in these terrible passages. The king's solid presence was the only thing that kept him from bolting back the way he came. Absently he stumbled backwards until he was literally grasping the fur of the king's foreleg for support.

The sudden roar made him jump as it echoed off the narrow stone walls. Tafari stood his ground. There were sounds of a mighty scuffle, and a lion roared in pain. There were snarls and hisses and bone-crushing thuds. Kato pressed himself into the king's fur, finding what comfort he could. He didn't know why, but he was scared. Even after all the monstrosities he had faced, and the crimes he had committed, the king made him feel safer than his own confidence, and he wanted more of it. If it bothered Tafari, it didn't show.

Kato was no stranger to death. One saw it all the time in a meerkat colony… especially the one he had lived in. He had personally slain things that crawled from his darkest nightmares to murder him and his comrades. But that was in the line of duty. Here… here it felt like he was a kit again, alone and helpless, on the verge of something terrible, a giant precipice that nobody could ever climb from again. And he was being pushed inexorably towards the edge.

Finally, it was over, and Abasi's commanding voice rang out.

"Come," he said simply. They came. Kato smelled blood. Leopard blood.

"What is going on?" he finally managed to breathe out as he identified the corpses around them. They were all leopards. The lioness sat licking her wounded paw.

"Assassins," said Abasi simply. "Come for the king. But they did not expect him to be guarded by his most powerful subjects." Kato knew that didn't include him.

"Why would they want to kill the king?" he asked, feeling more comfortable as he realized it was truly safe among these stalwart defenders of the realm.

"It's simple," said Tafari. "To kill a snake the quickest, you must cut off the head. The rest comes swiftly and easily."

"Stop talking like that, your majesty!" said the lioness, sounding a little frustrated now. "We are the King's Claws, and we will be cursed a thousand times over before Cetshwayo's foul minions get hold of you!"

"Peace, Kinah," said the king. "There are things that happen that cannot be stopped from happening. We may roar as loud and long as we wish, but the sun will still rise and set as it has always done."

"Regardless," began Kinah, living up to her namesake, but Abasi halted further talk.

"We are wasting time. Come. I do not think it is much further."

Kato heard an unearthly scream behind them, at the back of his mind. It was quiet at first, just a small sob that made the meerkat jump, which gradually grew in volume and intensity until it was as though all the birds and hounds of the world were crying out in mourning. It sent a shiver up his spine, but the others didn't seem to notice the horrid noise. It was not a fearful screech, but an angry one… a pitiable one. Full of regret and rage and lunacy, desolate and yet peaceful in its absolute oblivion. It seemed as though the darkness itself that surrounded them had made the racket.

An unnatural noise to be sure. It made him speed up.

It was much closer the next time he heard it. Still he was the only one to look back.. Somehow... it sounded familiar.

A dead end.

Kato found it odd that they would die because of a wrong turn. Neither Abasi nor Kinah had anticipated it, seeming very shocked indeed when the passage stopped short. A great boulder stood in front of what apparently was supposed to be

"Blood and ancestors!" said Abasi. "They can't have known this place was here. Why is it blocked off?"

He seemed far more stressed now than the others. Kinah and Tafari watched him round on little Kato.

"You!" he said accusingly. "Heretic! I should have known you'd have been put down here to give them information! Your placement here was no mistake!"

"Abasi," began the king, but the lion of justice would not be swayed.

"Sire, how are we to know that he isn't working with them? He wasn't even supposed to be in that chamber!"

"His point does have merit, sire," said Kinah. Kato, who was forced to do little else but go with the flow of this extraordinary day, watched the king. Just seeing the bent, old lion somehow made him feel safe.

"Put up your claws, my loyal guardians," said Tafari. "He is not to be harmed… I see it in his eyes. We can trust him."

Abasi seemed to be instantly culled by his lord's command. He turned away to search for another escape route.

"As you wish, sire."

Kinah and he began sniffing and poking about in the utter dark to try and find a way out. Tafari turned to Kato, who was still paralyzed by so many questions.

"You have questions," he said. "Speak them while we have time."

Kato was hesitant, but stepped forward nonetheless. The king had not killed him yet, and he had no other choice but to trust him.

"My… my lord," he said, figuring that the proper thing to say, "what… what is going on? Why am I here? I mean… I know why I'm _here,_ I… I've done things…"

"Your past matters not," said the king. "A truly repentant heart is not tainted by bygones."

"But, sire!" protested Kato. "The things I've done… what they say I did… what I saw… it was monstrous."

"You do not have the face of a monster. Your past is not what you will be remembered for… but it will invariably dictate what you will become."

Kato looked to the ground. He could still remember the smell… that awful stench of death that filled his nostrils… made him feel powerful. Alive.

"Sire… what's happening?"

"I am being hunted so that our enemy, the Scourge of the South, may have his wish, and that is my kingdom. My shaman has seen into the depths of the future, and beheld my doom. Stay your tongue… there is no surprise to be found in a place like this. I too have been shown my fate by the ancestors themselves… the stars gave me pictures, words."

"You know how you will die?" asked Kato in wonderment.

"Yes. It is a gift given to only a chosen few through all the ages. I am one of the luckier ones… or perhaps, not so lucky. I am being pushed inexorably forward to my predestined pathway. I am blessed in that I will know the exact purpose behind my death, as consolation for the mystery of life that was stolen from me… not that an old one such as myself is mystified by anything. It is a misunderstood blessing to be able to stand firm, look the face of your fate in the eye… and then fall prey to it as you know you must."

"And what of me?" Kato interrupted quietly.

"I do not know. My foresight sees not beyond my own doomed doorway. I only know that my death will propel you forward into your own destiny. We must press onward, together… a voice summons us both, in a tongue strident and bitter as the desert sun."

Kato's eyes narrowed. Had the king heard the screams too…?

"Sire!" said Abasi, and for the first time Kato heard him be happy. "We've found it. A small fissure… it is a tight fit, but air is coming through. Another way to the outside!"

After pushing through, Kinah and Abasi leading the way, there came at length a pinpoint of light, a spark of the sun that made hope spring into the hearts of the guardians, but not their charges. Kato felt the corridors close in on the small party. Feelings of doom crept up upon him, worming their way up his back, and into his mind. The shadows, contrasted with the light, seemed dark and foreboding as ever.

As they clambered out of the skinny passage, they saw that there was one last wall that blocked their path, a slope of collapsed debris and stone leading up to a gap in the rocks that Kato figured he would be able to slip through. There were no more twists and turns, no more side passages or run-offs. There was only the way out… and the way their hunters would inevitably come from. The cavern they stood in was surprisingly large and unusual; unnatural curves and ledges marked the peripheries of the spherical chamber.

"Don't even think about making a break for it, heretic," growled Abasi. "You haven't done anything to prove yourself yet."

"How are we going to clear this obstruction?" wondered Kinah aloud. "So close…"

"We will just have to remove it piece by piece," answered Abasi. Kinah stared at him, aghast.

"Are you mad? That would take hours! We probably don't even have seconds left!"

"There are no more options, and no other routes," said Tafari, ending the debate. "We must put our strength to this task and push on through."

But before they could start to work, Abasi's head shot up in alarm.

Huffs and screeches and growls were heard in the tunnel behind them.

"They're here!" said Abasi, and Kato noticed that the stern lion's tone held a faint tinge of fear. There was one loud, throaty bellow, and a crash. Something had removed the boulder that had impeded them earlier... and others were rushing to the attack.

"We are trapped!" stated Kinah rather obviously. She stamped the ground with an uninjured paw, growling.

"Grraaah! Is this how it is to end? We've come this far! We can't be slaughtered like this now!"

"We must do our duty," snapped Abasi. "The tunnel will negate their numbers… let us hope there are not too many, or that they are too large. Come! The fate of the kingdom is with us now!"

As one, the brave cats leaped back into the dark. Kato heard the terrible clash. From the sound of it, Abasi and Kinah were fighting like lunatics to keep the unknown enemy at bay. After what appeared to be an eternity, Kato felt the king's eyes on him, and looked up to meet that sad, haunted gaze.

"Listen to me," he said, barely audible above the din of battle, but Kato snapped to attention nonetheless.

"There isn't much time. You have no reason to stay. You must go. You must escape these lands."

Kato blinked in confusion and alarm. What was Tafari saying? Leave the lands entirely? This was his home! His colony… but his colony wouldn't accept him, would they? But where was he to go? What was he to do? He asked this of the king in no uncertain terms.

"Go north," replied the king. "Find the lion without a roar. With him you may find hope. And then… I do not know."

"Sire…" started Kato again. "How can I do this? I'm… I'm just a meerkat! I don't even know what's going on right now! I'm supposed to be rotting in the bowels of this place for heresy! I-!"

"This is my last command to you as your king!" bellowed Tafari. "You are hereby exiled until you can perform this task for me!"

Kato went silent, and his small body filled with shock. Exiled? The king had just exiled him, quickly as that? He stepped back, staring at the implacable lion, not heeding the furious melee in the tunnel next to them.

So wrapped up was he in his own thoughts, he never saw the gorilla bound up out of the dark until it was too late. All he saw was a blur of black fur, coupled with a might roar. Even then it took him many moments to register what was happening, as the giant primate's hands wrapped around the king's frail skull, twisting viciously. As the king's neck was broken by the monstrous strength of the gorilla, the assassin roared in triumph and brought the king's body over his shoulder, hurtling his old head down onto the stone, pressing all of his power into the blow.

There was a hideous crunch and a snap, and Kato found himself the next target. He instinctively but ineffectually raised his paws as the killing blow swept down towards him.

It never came. Kato looked up and saw Abasi digging his claws into the primate's back, tearing into the tough muscle and sinew with vengeful jaws. The gorilla howled in pain and reached behind him, catching Abasi's foreleg and swinging him into the wall with one great heave. Abasi recovered and lunged, claws outstretched. The gorilla brought up one powerful fist and sent the great lion sprawling with one sledgehammer blow before leaping on the executioner. There was a small scuffle as they rolled over each other. Abasi's jaws caught around the gorilla's neck. The beast seemed unphased, lurching backwards and crushing Abasi's head against the wall. He went down, covered in blood and barely breathing. Kato hadn't moved at all, staring in utter shock at the titanic confrontation. The gorilla glanced back at him, baleful hatred filling its eyes...

Eyes that were blood red with rage. He turned back to Abasi and looped his arms under the lion, bringing him up onto his shoulders. Abasi offered no resistance as the gorilla strained with all its might to stand upright, victoriously holding the broken body up like a trophy, before doing the same as he had done with the king, and powering downwards. Abasi went head first.

Kato could literally see the once proud lion's head flatten as it struck the stone with a wet thud. The lion's eyes glazed over in death.

The gorilla seemed too wrapped up in its victory to notice Kinah leap up from behind and wrap her teeth around his throat. The primate was at her mercy, and she showed none, digging her canines in until the gorilla's neck was flattened with the power of her onslaught. He beat uselessly against the lioness on top of him as his life drained from him.

Suddenly, he was dead too. Kinah dropped the carcass and looked over at Kato. Then she saw the king. She went pale under her fur as she went to check over him, knowing it was useless.

"No... stars forgive me... we were too late... there were too many... no... please... ancestors above...!"

She turned back to Kato, mournful in body and spirit. She slumped down on her rump, looking at the ground, eyes squeezed shut.

"We failed... _I_ failed. The king is dead and so are all who could support his line... it is over... Cetshwayo has won..."

Kato, unsure what else to say over the lioness's murmurings, spoke up quietly. His voice was exceptionally loud in the deafening silence.

"The king told me to find someone else."

Kinah suddenly scoffed, and Kato felt offended, but she went on.

"The king trusted you... with a last mission, eh? I don't know why... but I must trust his judgement, even in death." She looked up, obviously straining to keep her feelings for her beloved king in check. Her eyes were wet.

"Very well. Then we must each play our parts, as he would say. The king is dead. Long live... the king."

Kato bowed his head in silence.

"Go," said Kinah after an eternity.

"What?"

"You heard me. I said go. Quickly. More will be coming, and I don't know if they will be merciful now that they have overturned the throne." She stepped forward, and to Kato's utter surprise, placed her snout upon his small head.

"You have the blessings of our dead kingdom, and of our empty throne," she said quietly, and chuckled. "It isn't much, I know. But the king believed in you. I loved the king, more than anything else, and never saw his judgment falter. So I will believe in you as well. Besides..." She looked up the small incline of rock. Sunlight had begun to filter in a tiny gap.

"There's only one of us here able to fit through that," she said with a wry smile.

"Looks like fate," muttered Kato.

"You gotta wonder," said Kinah. "But hurry. You are bound by the king's word, now. His death doesn't invalidate it. _I _bind you with _my _word, as well. Promise me you will do all in your power, as a subject of this kingdom, to do as the king said." Kato stared up at the lioness, surprised at the intensity of her gaze. It seemed as if she would kill him if he refused.

"I promise," he said with a nod, and meant it. Kinah smiled. It was a very nice smile.

"Then the kingdom lives on through you, now. Hurry. I will watch over the king, until... my time comes as well." She went over and sat down next to Tafari and began her vigil. Kato clambered up the rocks, and peered through the small hole. Even _he _would have trouble getting through. Before he went, he turned back to see Kinah staring at him.

"Take care," he said.

"Stay alive," she replied. And then Kato was gone.

Outside, he heard the sounds of battle and the cries of victory from the mysterious Cetshwayo's forces. He ran, reflecting on his newfound freedom. Ha... that was a joke. He had been freed from prison to be enslaved by the king's promise. Already regret and bitterness for being forced into this so quickly and indifferently was beginning to surface, but on he plowed, driven as much by fear as anything else. That fear turned to anger as he reached the borders much later. Anger at those who had accused him falsely and left him at Abasi's mercy. Anger at Abasi for being so stuck up, even though he was dead. Anger at the mark on the back of his neck that said so many things he was not. Tafari for telling him his destiny was to run away like a terrified kit to do something near impossible. Anger at Kinah for being so kind to him on the verge of his journey. And anger at himself, but he didn't really know what for.

Anger drove him from the king, from home, from his family, and on into the unknown world beyond the calm river. Away from it all, he ran.

_My name is Kato. I am an exile_.

Maniacal laughter pursued him the whole way, but it was too far off for him to hear it follow his every step...

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A/N: Whew! Been wanting to write this for a while! Now don't ya'll worry. Born With A Smile is still on my to do list, but I just had to get this out! I know it's a significant departure from my other story, but that's half the fun! Gotta test my limits and all that, and I kinda like the style that this was written in. Simple, concise, yet descriptive in many ways. I hope. Please R and R! I'm not sure if this is any good, so I need you all to help me with that!

I also hope you enjoy further updates, as Kato comes to grips with his supposed 'destiny' and the story introduces a new perspective... next time on RedSquirrel's Machinations!1


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Welcome, loyal readers, to... a long, boring, kind of mediocre chapter. Also I just wanted to introduce these two. I don't feel like this chapter has a lot of form or style, in a story-telling sense... oh well... I can always edit it if the reviewers shout nay enough. See how fragile I am? Ugh. I feel like how Kato does later in the chapter. Help me with my self-esteem issues by reviewing! Oh, and credits to MorpheusDreamer, who gave the inspiration for Kato's, um... special scar. If you don't finish your stories, Morph, I'll start a petition, see if I don't!

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"Just a little farther, Kafele! We're almost to the borders! They're sure to stop hunting us there!"

Ghedi looked over his shoulder to make sure his younger brother was still following. The adolescent lion was fleeing for his life from the madness of, surprisingly enough, his own mother's pride. Of course, the two hadn't quite followed their biological clocks and left their families to begin their own lives, but that did not explain the sudden changes which had swept through the family in a matter of days.

Kafele, his scraggly auburn mane flying, only looked fearfully ahead to his older brother, tears streaming from his eyes as he took his breaths in tearful gasps. He didn't dare look back, where the growls and hisses of his family came from. Ghedi chanced a glance beyond his brother, and immediately wished he hadn't. His sister was close behind them, snarling and spitting up a storm, her eyes almost glowing with a crimson ichor that clouded her version. Right behind her was the rest of the pride, the madness present in their own eyes... and the powerful male who had helped to begin their ousting. What was strange was how none of them seemed to notice each other. All of them were fixated on nothing but hunting down their quarry... they just kept coming like the only thing that mattered was running out these two young males. For when Ghedi mentioned borders, he meant the borders of all they knew. They had crossed out of their pride's lands several hours ago... and still the others came on. Worse, Ghedi was beginning to flag.

"Are we gonna make it, Ghedi?" shouted Kafele, his voice high and ragged and desperate, seeking guidance from his big brother, who only snapped back at him in his .

"If you stop talking and keep running, we will!"

Driven on only by fear at what would happen if they were caught, they still ran for another hour, across the endless grasslands until the shadowy outline of a forest came into view. Gradually, the attackers peeled off, leaving only the male, he skidded to a halt. Ghedi looked back one last time, calling a halt to Kafele. He beheld a gaze full of purpose, and deceit in the large male. The eyes were normal, however, not the horrid, blood red of his family. A deep, dark brown those eyes were, peering at him from across the distance that separated them. Ghedi wasn't sure, but in the failing light of evening, he thought he could see the barest hints of a smirk on that detestable feline's snout. But why would he be so smug when his takeover was tainted with failure, since the two males lived?

The grass next to them exploded as their mother made a beeline for Kafele, bowling him over and latching onto his neck with her jaws. Ghedi turned at Kafele's scream and, without thinking, let loose his claws and tore across his mother's face, gouging out her eyes. Animal instinct led him to that moment. Their destiny was now their own... dear mother had abandoned them. This was not their mother.

The lioness howled in pain and tore off into the brush, looking as mad as the rest, rolling around and falling several times as she shook her head so hard Ghedi thought it might be torn off. Still the male lion only stared, unblinking, still proud and haughty as Ghedi looked to his younger brother.

"Kafele... Kafele, get up! Get up! Hurry! They might come back for us!"

Kafele, bloodied and shocked beyond reason, simply sat and stared at the ground, his eyes full of terror. Ghedi sighed heavily, admitting to the pangs of abandonment and confusion he felt in his own heart. But it had always been like this. Kafele was one of the reasons Ghedi had stayed behind, even as they grew into the cusps of adulthood. Kafele had always been the one to love family, home, and security more. Ghedi followed his own strength... but had loved his brother too much to leave without him. Silly, naive Kafele...

And now, weak, dirty, and cowardly Kafele. They were adults now, even if their bodies didn't show it, but Ghedi was the only one who accepted it readily, as a good male should. Ghedi knew what had to be done. Kafele would just have to follow him.

"Kafele, please," he said, but his tone held no hints of pleading. "This is what we had to expect. We stayed too long... and that male would have slaughtered us if we stayed and fought, and mother would have driven us away anyway! We... we have to look to our own defenses now, Kafele. Come on... when have we ever faced anything alone?"

Kafele slowly turned his head up to face his older brother, always strong, quick, and blunt. Even his mane was darker, a handsome brownish black, and fuller. Shame mingled momentarily with his sorrow, but he gasped out one word.

"...Mother..."

Ghedi's face softened at the desolate, almost mad look in Kafele's eyes. He couldn't be hard on his brother, even now. He had to admit... the sheer ferocity and suddenness of tonight had hit him just as hard. But he couldn't show that, couldn't show anything, for Kafele's sake. He needed a leader right now, and Ghedi was the only one around.

"She's not our mother anymore, Kafele. But I'm still your brother. And we both need to blaze our own trails now."

Under the watchful gaze of the strange male, who looked almost like a guardian as he saw them off, Ghedi dragged his brother up, and the two slowly disappeared in the darkness, each silently swearing that they would not look back.

Both of them sneaked one glance each that night, but as they had feared, there was nothing to see.

--------------------------- ----------------------------_ -------- -------_

"_You are indeed young for this assignment, Kato. I hardly trust myself to let you in on this. But we need every available meerkat not working on the new construction, and the jungle is a nightmarish place."_

"_I've been there before. I will serve with honor, sir. I promise."_

"_Heh... I know you will, Kato."_

_He was happy back then. He had dignity, a budding position of high esteem, just below aristocracy, or something like it._

"_I know you'll make us proud."_

Kato was slow in waking up. It was two days after he had fled from Kwazulu's conquering, and he had run the whole way until he could run no more. He had taken shelter in a small grove of trees sprouting up next to the river, the banks of which he refused to leave as he headed farther north. The unknown scared him too much, and his dreams had been bothering him. His eyes opened, but he still lay there for several minutes, thinking on the last part of his memory dream. Make them proud... he had done far worse.

The mark on his neck was becoming agitated again. He put a paw over it, tracing the intricate scarring. An eight pointed star with an eye at the center. Used long ago to describe those who looked through a garbled version of the Circle of Life to gain twisted wisdom. All the strange and weird cults had been lumped together in this way, whatever their bizarre practices. Whether or not they were truly communicating with the evil ancestors of ages past or something... worse... or whether they were just plum crazy or not, nobody was ever really sure. All they did know was Kato was the latest of the bunch and had had to be labeled as such.

Heretic.

He curled up at that hated word, closing his eyes tightly. He only wanted to shut out the memories. The king's voice floated back to him as he thought that, a whisper on the wind that he much wanted to ignore, but couldn't shut out.

"_Your past is not what you will be remembered for... however, it will invariably dictate what you will become."_

What was that, Kato thought? A hero? A killer anew? A carcass left to be forgotten in the savanna before his journey had even begun? Or worse, would he prove he was a heretic?

_Do you want to?_

Kato sat up like a shot. Where had _that_ come from? No, he didn't want to prove he was a heretic! He was a good and upright meerkat.

_But the blood had felt so warm... made him feel so powerful!_

Kato stood up and banged his paws against his temples. No, no, no! He wasn't a killer! Well... perhaps that wasn't true. He couldn't avoid that death had happened that night. He couldn't avoid that he was the one found guilty. He couldn't avoid any of it, except maybe the truth, which was still shrouded in the awful shade of red...

But that didn't mean he couldn't hide what he did know.

Purposefully, he stepped forward and grabbed a large, rounded, triangular leaf, and poked two holes on its base with his claws. He placed it over the back of his neck, and plucked up several thin blades of grass, and knotted them to hold the leaf in place, which served its purpose as makeshift shade, and hiding that dreadful mark. He didn't give any thought that perhaps anyone outside of his lands would have no idea what the mark meant anyway.

He went over to the river, to see how it looked. He turned this way and that, his expression unreadable. For the first time in a long time he got a good look at his own face. Rounded, short in both dimensions, and young. Still so young, eh, Kato? Too afraid to grow up? He ran a paw through his headfur, a dusty brown the color of dry soil, and poked at the strange stripe of the same color as his headfur that ran from his forehead down between his eyes to his dark, sharp nose, which was smaller than most. Other than that distinguishing mark, he looked like any other meerkat should at his age, but that was older than he felt and younger than he wanted to be. He felt like a coward, in any case, and in a way, was one. He was running all over again, like he had tried to run away from the blood of that night. Next to a river, just like this one...

_Stop it, _he told himself. _You aren't going to think of that any more. You won't mention it to anyone. It's gone and done and there's nothing you can do to change it. Live with it. You coward._

He shook his head and turned away again. If nothing else, the new decor made him look rather dashing.

It was time to keep moving.

For another two days he kept to the river, which seemed to be the branch of some large tributary. He left his hiding spots at the crack of dawn and didn't stop until the sky was full of stars, drinking cautiously from the river and eating whatever he could find or catch. The land became a little higher, and soon Kato found himself on the lips of a gorge, looking down as the river tumbled past him to flow out to Kwazulu. The last high rise he topped showed it to be getting flat and soft a little farther on. It was just after the rainy season, after all, so it seemed this place, with its climate, tended to be marshy at this time of the year. Off to the west, he saw the beginnings of thick jungle from which the river itself emanated and eventually branched off into the tributary he saw farther on, which snaked into the river he had been following and marked the northernmost borders of the kingdom. It crossed the path he would eventually take a few miles out, the nourishing waters providing a haven of undergrowth he'd be glad to reach... if he got there alive.

As for animals, he saw few, and avoided them all. Most of them were lone predators on the prowl, and others were small family groups that wandered in the no-beast's land between the varying kingdoms and provinces he had heard about. His particular colony had a wider read knowledge base than most. Thankfully, in this place of no cover and land inhospitable to meerkat burrowing, he found no eagles or the like. Out here, where there were no powers to rule, no laws to limit who ate whom, it was a free for all, and a lone meerkat hardly stood a chance unless he kept to himself and only himself.

To the north and east, it seemed to grow higher again, and drier, with the undulating earth straightening into flat grassland, and beyond that the landscape seemed to be, from his standpoint, open savanna with the usual groves of trees and bushes and rocks here and there. That sort of climate was much more to his liking, and it was for that he struck out once again, at last leaving the safety and direction of the river, and it was still going north. Beyond that, straight north, way, way, _way_ off, were the tips of mountains peeking over the horizon. How far was he expected to go, anyway? The question had been on his mind all day, and as the grass grew higher, and the true enormity of the landscape before him came to so the question grew larger in his thoughts. How many lands would he have to traverse? How many beasts would he meet? How to get there? How long would it take?

And how did one find a lion who couldn't roar, anyway?

As he sank into the grass, the once inviting plains and highlands he had seen now stretched off into an interminable distance. He needed shelter, and food. He had been living so far off of berries and small insects, but the kind he normally ate didn't live in this kind of area. He needed shelter. Help. Directions, a clue, anything. It would suit him better than just wandering aimlessly, much as it helped him forget.

It was on the ninth day of his travels that he was reminded of how dire his situation truly was.

He had managed, only through much labor and hundreds of agitated glances over his shoulder, to scratch out a small, shallow, but overall comfortable burrow. It would only serve him for a night or two before he moved on to the second river he had ever seen in his life. Continuing a straight path would bring him right into the plants that grew in droves along the rich banks. Hopefully a fallen tree or something would provide a good crossing point.

Right before dawn, his little home exploded.

When Kato recovered, he sat up to see, of all things, a pangolin shuffling through what had been his temporary abode. It carried on like the meerkat didn't even exist, sniffling and snorting with gusto on the remains of the meerkat's den. Kato cocked his head to the side, mystified, and just a little more than annoyed that all his had work had suddenly gone to waste.

"Excuse me," he said quietly. The pangolin, who looked to be in a hurry, continued digging and sniffing, digging and sniffing.

Kato stood up and spoke again, louder. His voice wasn't exactly authoritative, and hardly handsome. It sounded quiet even when he raised it. If one were to judge him on his voice alone, Kato had doubts they would even want to bother trying to listen to him. He had been very quiet ever since his escape from Kwazulu, and his voice was now like this as a result.

"Hey! Excuse me? Stop! Hey!"

Finally, the pangolin turned and looked at him, though it didn't look like he had heard Kato, but instead only glanced up curiously and found the meerkat by chance.

"Hello," he said. His voice was thin and tenuous, the sound of an elder creature, like Kato's grandfather. The pangolin sounded like someone whom trust came to easily.

"What are you doing?" asked Kato, a little annoyed that his hard work had just been eliminated.

"Looking for food!" said the pangolin, as if the meerkat were rather stupid in asking that.

"I couldn't get anything up in the trees, so I came down here to sniff and snuffle for some tasty underground maggots, or somesuch."

"Well," said Kato, patience thin, "you sniffed and snuffled right through my home!"

"Home!" said the pangolin. "That was a home? I thought it was a depression in the ground. Call that a home, you need to raise your standards, boy."

Kato shook his head, glancing to the side with his icy blue eyes. The pangolin was right; he had raised his hole in the ground to the status of a home because he had been angry, and without a good reason.

"Look, never mind. I'm sorry, I'm not staying long anyway. This is your territory. I'm just passing through."

"Oh?" The pangolin's nose twitched, and he folded his claws over each other. "Where to?"

"North," said Kato. "I'm, um... on a trip. Distant relatives."

"Well, extremely distant, I should think! You've got a long way to go before you see any other meerkats!"

Kato wasn't interested in finding other meerkats. They'd be harsh and territorial out here beyond 'civilized' borders, and eventually they'd find his mark, which he'd run away for. Coward.

"You live along this river then?" Kato asked, gesturing to the foliage along the nearby riverbank.

"Not quite. On the other side," said the pangolin, blinking his beetle-like eyes at the trees. "Nobody bothers me out here, so I can range pretty far."

"You know a way across?"

"Oh, there's plenty of those! How do you think I got over here? The trees overhang and tangle together, fallen logs, shallow spots for fording... I've had a lot of time to look."

"Take me to one, will you?"

"Oh, later, later! You need a better place to stay than that little thing! Come, come. I'm sure you're hungry, we'll find something if we put all eyes to the task. Found the remains of a bunch of mongoose tunnels. I'm going to have to sleep soon. We're nocturnal, you know. How do you say many mongoose? Mongeese?"

"Never been interested in finding out," said Kato, following the pangolin as he moved off. Mongoose, who were big and solitary, often found themselves at odds with their meerkat 'cousins' as they liked to call them. Kato personally didn't like them, mostly because of how big and strong and sinewy they were, unlike meerkats, and the over exuberance with which most of the ones he'd known spoke.

Oh, and there was that one who had insulted him and told him to lie down and die under Kwazulu Rock.

"You can finish your sleep in my tunnels," said the pangolin, "or in my trees. I prefer either. It's no trouble, and you eat whatever you can find... you're looking rather thin to be traveling!"

"Thank you, much obliged. Um, do you have a name?"

"No, not really,"replied the pangolin as he waddled along. Kato, finding this extremely odd, furrowed his brow and quickened his pace to step alongside the strange animal. Names were everything, were they not? They gave one status. They gave Kato status... a status he remembered he never wanted.

"Why not?" he asked nonetheless.

"Never had a use for it! We've gone all this way and neither of us have needed to mention a name, right?"

"I suppose..."

"Right. So don't throw me your name. Names are very personal things. Private. You learn too much from names these days. I'm very good with faces and scents anyway, and I daresay, you have very unique ones. I hope I'm not being presumptuous."

"No trouble. How do you mean?"

"Can't say. But aside from the stripe right down your muzzle, you're much more different than any meerkat I've seen!"

They were quiet after that. Kato associated himself with the patch of ground the pangolin called home, crawling up and down trees and sniffing at flowers he had never seen before, eating, as the pangolin told him, whatever he found that was edible. He had been very hungry recently. The river was mostly silent as it dashed swiftly past the two, not broken by rocks. The only sounds were them and the wind rustling the trees. It was extremely calm, and if one looked hard enough, plenty of food. As Kato bravely leaned out from the branch of a tree that hung over the river, hanging on by only one paw on a branch above and standing on only one footpaw on a branch below, the rest dangling over the water, he could see why the pangolin chose this spot to live out his days. Unfortunately, he had a job to do. His promise still stood, to the king, to a whole land. But how could a heretic fulfill the hopes of an entire kingdom? It was lucky he was such a duty bound creature. But doubt still plagued him, and gave very pressing arguments to stay here and forget the world, like this pangolin did. To live without a name, he thought dreamily as he hung over the running water. He remembered the shame of when his name had been branded and cursed. To be rid of those memories, and that horrid scar, would make him happy forever, he decided.

It was good that he traveled alone... nobody could abandon him like his friends and family had.

It was, therefore, tempting to stay, if he had thought he had the time. As things stood, Kato was forced to fill up and get a little inventive in case food ran low around him again when he left. Remembering what being in the guard taught him, he fashioned a small leaf into a pouch, which he draped over his shoulders using thin vines. This would hopefully hold enough bugs to satiate his hunger when he couldn't waste time foraging. Who knew what could happen, after all.

The pangolin fell asleep for the day, and Kato was left alone to change his covering. He'd need a fresh leaf to keep his scar hidden out where there was little cover. It burned with shame when he slipped off the old cover, and still stung when he covered it yet again. He then went to work eating to fill out for his journey into the real unknown. He was already as far from home as he'd ever been, but he doubted he'd be in such good company as this pangolin when he left.

When he returned to the main burrow that evening, he found the pangolin sniffing the air rather agitatedly.

"What is it?" asked Kato.

"I don't know," said the pangolin. "I was remembering your face... and I got all bothered."

Kato blinked and breathed in sharply.

"I don't have a special face," he said, finding this creature more odd by the moment.

"Oh, but you do!" insisted the pangolin. "All faces are special. It's how I remember them! Names... names are artificial. They just give the tongue something to touch. Your face is different than everyone, even if you share names. Don't you think that's better?"

"I think you need to go back to sleep," said Kato, in no mood to philosophize.

"But... oh, I see. You're too private. Don't even want your face remembered?"

"None of me," Kato replied, his quiet voice almost a whisper. When he was done he would ask for no special honors. He didn't want to be remembered in any way, shape, or form.

"Sorry," said the pangolin, not sounding very sorry at all. "I can't forget faces. I'll remember you when you drop by again!"

"You sound like I'm leaving first thing tomorrow."

"Aren't you?" The pangolin cocked his head.

"Well, yes..." answered Kato, a little flabbergasted. "But... not that soon. I'd like to take a walk first."

"Ah. Well, do hurry. I'm almost done with my nap, and then I'll show you a real fancy little flower I found yesterday before your nap. Then you can say goodbye tomorrow."

"Thank you," said Kato, nodding his head. He turned back out, not wanting to spend another moment cooped up with the garrulous beast.

He stopped dead when he saw another meerkat standing in front of him. Kato was instantly on edge. This meerkat, a male, stood higher and older than Kato. His snout was long and pointed, giving him a rather snively look to him. His eyes were even worse, bloodshot and wide open, their hazel irises mere dots in the swirling red. But what was most disturbing was the grin he had on his face... it was a horrible grin, full of menace and ill thoughts, and baring his pearly white teeth. Kato took a step back as the meerkat spoke in a voice that rang with derision.

"So _this _is the grand and mighty hero sent to save Kwazulu!"

Kato dropped to a fighting position, eyes narrowed as he skipped the introductions.

"How do you know that!" he snapped, voice suddenly far more fierce than before. The other meerkat chuckled, but with quick, sharp, barking exhalations that sounded like dying breaths.

"You'll be amazed how much a little pain will do when applied in the right areas. The King's Claws gave us all we needed... or one in particular, at least. She's the only one Cetshwayo chose to let live, since she was the only one who gave us you. Not surprised. Nobody wants to die for a heretic."

Kinah. Kato growled involuntarily, remembering her nice smile before she sent him off.

"That's a funny noise. Hee hee. Not as scary as I can make it," said the obviously crazed meerkat, fingers twitching every now and again. "If you had run across the river just a few hours before we got here, you might have given us the slip! Been a good couple weeks hunting you, but not even heroes are beyond Cetshwayo's grasp."

"I'm no hero," said Kato. "Leave me alone."

"You're not!" barked the meerkat. "Cetshwayo's made sure you're everyone's last hope... so they'll feel even worse when we bring back your fetid corpse! Of course, it must shame them plenty to know that a heretic is the only one standing between them and dominion."

"Who are you?" Kato finally asked, a bit unnerved. His little plight had been made public? This Cetshwayo character didn't sound like a very strategic thinker. Unless the meerkat was lying to throw Kato off. But how could Kato be so important to be sent hunters after? Especially mad babblers like this? How much did Cetshwayo know, in truth? Cetshwayo was either an idiot... or Kato was in fact the one who was lacking in 'strategic thinking.' Something didn't seem right about this situation, and it wasn't just the way this meerkat stank.

"Don't you remember me!" snapped the meerkat. "I was with you, third shift, every tenth day. I was on the patrol that brought you back after you had your way with those innocent, helpless 'comrades' of yours, that night by the river when you revealed your heresy. You don't know me, but by now, plenty of beasts know _you._ Don't believe me? Ask them."

With another grin, he pointed to his right. There stood two powerful leopards, their eyes like flint. A singular purpose drove these two on. Kato gulped and began backing up to the safety of the trees, and the burrows. He had to warn the pangolin.

"You're a heretic," said the other meerkat. "A waste of a lifetime's opportunity like this. Hee hee! It'll be so much fun to show that lioness how hopeless it was putting her faith in you." He turned to the leopards.

"Give him the punishment he deserves."

The two sprang forward, a blur of ripping teeth and rending claws. Kato dashed back into the burrows. The pangolin was nowhere to be seen, but above, the leopards were crushing the dirt in, trying to collapse the tunnels. Running blind, Kato stumbled to an exit near the river, unnoticed for the moment. The sun was getting lower, but in the failing light, he spotted the pangolin nearby, ears perked up as he stared fearfully in the direction of the leopards, who were spitting with rage as they tore up his home.

Kato ran to him.

"We need to get out of here!"

"No, you do," said the pangolin. "This is my home. I won't leave it! But I can show you how to get across quickly and easily. There's an especially thick bunch of branches you can just scamper across very easily. Come!"

Kato followed him up a nearby tree, too busy with his racing thoughts to realize the leopards couldn't be heard tearing at the ground; in fact, they weren't heard at all...

"Across, now!" said the pangolin, pointing up a particularly thick trunk. The branches spread into a virtual carpet above the river here.

"What about you!"

"I'll be fine. Don't worry! Never worry! Just do, like me! Go!"

Without another word, the two went off in their separate directions. The pangolin went to hide as Kato climbed, and made his way into the thick boughs.

Somehow, he was able to dodge back as the leaves burst in front of him, a leopard's snapping jaws only millimeters from taking off his head. Kato fell onto his rump and scrambled backwards, seeing the cat's companion begin to scale his escape route. The one in front tore through the flimsy barrier of leaves and twigs, going mad as it neared its target, not heeding how thin its own margin for error was.

Kato made a desperate gambit of leaping to another section of branch, hoping to lose his opponents in the tangle of wood or make their passage impossible by scaling branches that couldn't hold their weight.

The one in the trees continued its pursuit, tearing through anything Kato had to clamber over, the two weaving a deadly path through the foliage. The other leopard dashed along the bank below, both of them yowling up a storm.

The branches were fewer and thinner now. Still the leopard came on, mindlessly advancing as it began sinking rapidly. Kato suddenly ran out of tree, held up by only a thin tangle of twigs as he looked desperately for an escape, terror etched on his face. The leopard was sprawled awkwardly on several branches just behind him readying its pounce that would send them plummeting into the river. Was nothing going to deter them?

There was only one way out of this now. With only a moment's hesitation, Kato jumped.

The river was deceptive. It was deep and calm, but moved with the force of an elephant stampede. The diminutive meerkat was instantly swept up in the current, but began powering for the opposite shore. There were no branches in the sky now, and the stars began to show. Kato looked behind him to see that the cats did not follow. Cats hated water.

But these were no ordinary cats. Kato looked on in horror as his pursuer burst out of the tangle, sending debris everywhere as it dived smack into the river, paddling awkwardly towards him and carried by the river's force, predator's eyes locked on the meerkat even as it struggled to stay afloat. Kato screamed and swam even harder, almost yelling with relief as his footpaws found purchase, but the mud and current prevented him from escaping quickly. He was still moving downstream, struggling against the water as the leopard rushed up behind him, Kato's paws scrambling for purchase.

Spotting a long stalk of plant, Kato fell forward, grabbing it to pull himself onto shore.

The leopard's claws flashed, and Kato felt the flesh on his tail open from end to end. The leopard shot on by, screeching in frustration as it was carried away, its bulk preventing it from maneuvering back or swimming properly. Kato reared up and screamed, falling onto his face and sobbing with the sudden shock and agony that lanced through his small body. Staggering upright, holding his bleeding tail with his bare paws, he hurled himself into the grass and began to run once more.

The meerkat's voice followed him as he flailed his way through the long grass on the opposite bank.

"Don't worry, Kato! We won't take you right now. We'll play with you a bit longer! We'll find you, no matter how far you run! And then the fun can start all over again! You're gonna get yours, heretic! Ha ha ha!"

The strange meerkat waited until he was sure Kato had gone. He turned back to the myriad of shadows that stood behind him, waiting as if for a cue. Big ones, small ones, some as big as his head... well, that was all of them. All of them were calm outwardly. On the inside, they were seething with anticipation.

A pair of eyes, two small, completely red orbs, bobbed up to him from the dark. The meerkat smiled.

"Report back. _He'll_ be wanting to know Kato is making progress again."

The eyes blinked, and vanished. The meerkat turned to the rest of the shadows, which shifted and stepped back and forth. They knew what was coming next.

"As for the rest of you!" said the meerkat, spreading his arms wide. The shadows growled and hooted and snorted as the suspense built, the meerkat thrusting an open paw in Kato's direction.

"A message, I say, from our leader! Kato cannot be allowed to live much longer. Cetshwayo will grow impatient, and that we are commanded to not allow! This is the first and last time he escapes us! After him! Don't let him sleep! Don't let him eat! Never let him rest! Wear him down! Run him ragged! Crush his spirit into the dirt! He is not safe from our reach! He can never feel sheltered! Never feel safe! You know what master commands! Leave his soul naked and defeated and flattened! Make him ours, and then tear him asunder! You've got your glance of him."

The meerkat stared evilly after Kato.

"Now let our hunt begin."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A/N: So, so sorry I've taken so long! I have no excuse! Enjoy if you can, loyal readers. I'm plowing on through the tedious stuff to set up the story and get to the meat of the action. I promise, it gets better. I hope. I just hope this doesn't detract from the story, but when you're hit with writer's block, you just do what you have to to git 'er done, as they say…

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Kato was a long time in waking once again, but he didn't mind. He had been running for longer than he had thought possible, which really wasn't that far. He had had to hold his tail together with his bare paws, which hurt like mad, but at least it hadn't been dragging in the dirt. At last, his panic had wound down, overridden by survival instinct and the need to rest. The blood and panicked flight had left an obvious trail, which he knew he had to abandon. Fortunately, the gash that ran the length of his tail didn't go down to the bone, but he doubted he'd be able to move it the same way he had been able to before. Eventually, later in the evening after the dash from the riverbank, he had taken shelter in an abandoned den, which smelled faintly of badger. That made him wary; badgers were known for their volcanic tempers and frightening hostility towards all creatures peaceful and malicious, but he had no other choice. Out of luck he managed to find a few leaves that were suitable to healing, but he found that he could not go any further after that. For all his training, shock was catching up to him. Desperate, and sure that he would get infected, or bleed to death, exhaustion overtook him, he had fainted into a deep sleep, chilled by fear and by a sense that he may not wake up again.

When he woke up again, the pain was gone. He was whole... but the world around him was black. He was standing in what appeared to be a tunnel, given the echoes of his movements and the stony wall beside him. Unsure of what exactly was going on, he pressed forward into the dark. There was little else to do here. For some strange reason, he was not affected by the fact that he felt no more pain. He didn't like this, but it seemed, for the moment, he was trapped. Was this another part of the den he had wandered into? A dream? A nightmare? Only one way to find out, and that was press onward.

As he walked, he began to think. Was this death? He couldn't be dead already! His journey had hardly begun! Why had Tafari sent him on this terrible quest? He was going to die in a hole in the ground, bleeding of an injury he had no chance of treating, and failing before he could even try. Bitter anger welled up inside the small meerkat, twisting his face into a vicious scowl. Curse the kingdom! Curse Cetshwayo! And that leopard that had given him this injury. He'd be glad to die, if it meant getting away from all that. He knew he wasn't cut out for this. He had failed, as he knew he would. Some hero he was turning out to be. He couldn't even make it halfway to another new land. No choice but to go on.

After some time that he couldn't measure, he arrived at a larger chamber. The whole place was illuminated with a light that came from... well, nowhere, Kato could only guess. He was in a large, circular room that reminded him distinctly of the cave where kind old King Tafari had met his doom along with his arbiter Abasi. Kato shook his head and turned to leave, not wanting to be reminded any more of that horrid day that set him on this journey that had ended so brutally and swiftly, but his way out was blocked. Rather suddenly, a voice whispered in his ears. It was a soft, quick, and sketchy voice, meant only to be heard and not quite comprehended. In an instant it was there and gone once more.

"Mauti yalimfika nijani!"

"Who's there?!" Kato demanded, whirling back about to face the intruder in this place of darkness and memory.

"What does the little one want? Desperate, desperate, come to life, dance with death!"

"Shut up! What is this?"

"Come and see, you will know, you'll wish you'd been abandoned, eaten by the crow..."

Kato went forward, angry and determined to shut that mocking, too quick to catch voice up.

"Where are you?"

"Where you never thought to look, little one."

"Who are you?"

"Someone who can save your life."

"Why?"

"So quick and to the point! I like that. It's just like the death you wrought. Blunt. Swift. Merciless."

"Shut up!" Kato said again. "How do you know about that? Fates curse you, where _are _you?!"

"Come closer! I have something to show you."

Kato came. Eventually he reached the other side of the chamber, to a raised platform, into which was carved a recess. As Kato approached and peered inside, he immediately wished he hadn't.

It was full of worms. Writhing in the throes of death or agony, slithering all over one another, a mish mash of ever changing shapes and forms, faceless and monstrous in their crushing numbers, covered in a glistening slime. Kato backed away, horrified at the sudden sight, and overtaken with a horrific stench of rotting and decaying flesh, but found the space had closed in to press him up to the edge of the horrid crevice.

"What is this?!" he shouted aloud.

"A look at your future, if you do not listen, and listen closely," answered the voice, now full and terrible, and laced with menace and malevolence.

The worms twisted and stretched themselves. They became some sort of shape, vaguely resembling a cat... they crushed themselves out to form the sinews and binding tissue of muscle and tendon, warping and distorting. The bulging muscles moved upwards... towards Kato.

"I am the lord of destruction. The master of change. Time cannot halt me, only hasten me! I preside over all that is passed by, and know the fates of all who walk the earth." A clawed, skinless paw lashed outward to snatch Kato and pull his face down. The cat looked him in the eyes. The worms returned, bursting from its face to writhe in sickening delight once more, rushing back to form the face of that of a wicked looking gorilla.

"I am the King of Worms!" it hissed, sending a wave of putrid breath into Kato's face. He tried to pull back, terrified beyond rational thought, but the monstrosity held firm. Its paw began to squeeze around Kato's head, crushing inward. The meerkat groaned as the grip became painful.

"What do you want?!" he begged.

"I want you. This is the price you pay to be a hero, little one."

"Get away from me!"

"I will need you to give me something."

"Anything, anything!" Kato blurted out, too scared to think and desperate to stop the pain as the abomination's claws dug into his skull.

"Realize you are no use half dead. Wake up."

Kato woke up with a loud cry, and as he tried to sit upright, a paw pressed down against his chest to keep him from hurting himself by dashing about and upsetting the injury on his tail. He panicked, thinking he was still in danger of being crushed to a pulp by the horror in his head, and started flailing, when a voice that would have been soothing had it not been barking out in authority smacked into his ears.

"Hold still, you! Do you wish to rip open your tail again?!"

Tail? What happened to his... oh, the leopards. Kato relaxed a bit, still keeping a defensive posture with his arm over his head, looking about to get a better view of the place. He was laid against the hard wood of a baobab tree, and a large, shadowy creature was watching him carefully with focused, orange eyes. Orange? What on Earth?

"Who are you?" he demanded, in no mood to be courteous given his current predicament. The voice let out a wheezing laughter, the laughter that elder creatures who know all the old jokes that nobody ever understood anymore, full of mirth which only served to irk Kato even further.

"I'm nothing to be afraid of, it that's what you mean! In fact, I just saved your life."

Kato blinked several times, scooting back against the bark until he was sitting fully upright, his vision slowly clearing. Before him sat an exceedingly fat vervet monkey. Kato leaped up in surprise and backed up, prompting the monkey to hold his hands out and chuckle with mirth.

"Whoa, slow down there! I'm not what you think, little meerkat!"

"Then what are you?" Kato said, trying to climb up the branch but falling back down due to the pain in his tail.

"I'm someone you can trust, young one, a healer! Of all, not many."

"How... wait... how did you find me?" Kato asked, dropping back down and deciding that aggravating his injury wasn't a good idea right now. He was vulnerable, and just had to deal with that. The monkey seemed friendly enough, and any creature with a bent back and graying fur was sure to be little else than aggravating should it try anything.

"Well," the healer replied with a morose chuckle, "what with you bleeding all over the place you weren't too hard to find! I just followed the scent into that badger den. You're lucky I found you right then... the owner had come back and was crushing your little head, demanding answers despite the fact that you were just about the least bit conscious. Even with my old bones it wasn't hard to carry you back here. You didn't put up a bit of a fight."

Kato nodded slightly. His head did hurt... but was it just a badger? He remembered... something... something else... further thought was interrupted by the vervet speaking again.

"It took me quite a bit of persuasion to get him to stop from killing you then and there! Badgers aren't known for their hospitality, you know. Very, very lucky I managed to cross your blood trail and not somebody else... or anybody else at all. Or maybe not luck. Perhaps something else! Healers are only so far removed from shamans, after all. But it's rather creepy thinking old fogeys like us can see all we wish, eh?"

He laughed again.

Kato's head was still throbbing. He wouldn't mind all this half so much if he was actually in the mood to talk. His tail, after all... Kato suddenly sat up and felt for his tail. It was almost entirely encased in leaves and healing powders and pastes. Speaking of leaves, he felt around his neck for his leafy cape… still there, good. The monkey nodded gravely.

"Some piece of work. Rather proud I didn't make it worse. It'll heal. For now you need to remain here, rest, and let it mend."

Kato looked up to argue in his quiet, subdued voice. It was most definitely not a voice that was suited for arguing.

"Sir, I can't stay. I thank you for your help, and I owe you much, but... you see, I'm on kind of a mission..."

"No," came the firm answer. "At least a week, at the very least."

But they'll be here by then! They'll find me! Kato's mind shouted, but he remained mostly silent. The vervet took this to be assent and nodded again, his whole body bowing with him as though he were worshiping some ancient deity.

"If the ones who sent you do not understand, they are not fit to have you in service," he declared. Kato thought he understood, and gulped down his rebuttal.

"How far did you carry me?" he asked.

"A good two suns and one moon."

"I've never heard of monkeys venturing that far from their groves..."

"Oh, I'm a healer, my good little stick tail! I have the forbidden mark, and no creature may harm a healer on a mission of mercy lest he incur mighty wrath from above. So say the shamans."

Kato had heard of that tradition. His colony's healers never left home, though. Their land had always been a place hard fought and hard kept.

"So you go on patrols merely to find creatures to heal?"

"Well, yes! My troupe has shelter here in this particular grove. Very large, and defended fiercely from predator and herbivore alike."

"How many of you are there?"

"At least fifty, counting all ages and genders."

Kato nodded carefully. His own colony had had a similar population, but not because it had wanted it. Politics and ever-present danger pressed them together.

"You mentioned shamans. Are we in any particular kingdom?"

"If you can call it that! We live a free life, but a dangerous one. Out here, there are merely... chieftains, one could say. Not quite powerful enough to be kings, but still able to exert their influence... much like the leader of a troupe of monkeys, you could say!" He took a bit of time off to chuckle some more. "The grand monarchies do not bother those not under their direct control. We in no-beast's land can only dream of the grand kingdoms that exist more north and west. There is a large province about a week's journey from here governed by one such chieftain. But my troupe does not stray close to them."

"Who are they?"

"The Samburu. They are powerful enough to have their own... retainers, they call them... a pack of wild dogs. One of them is the lord's personal _ghulam._"

Kato blinked. A _ghulam_? What on Earth was that? He posed this question to the monkey.

"The dogs have some form of subordination and alliance to the lions. They perform tasks for them, and serve them in war and enforcing their laws. In exchange the dogs get hunting lands and direct control over the territory the Samburu have set them in. It is some ancient tradition carried from the far north, so Samburu says. I don't believe them. Very few of us do."

"You don't like the Samburu?"

"That depends on what you consider a standard for liking!'" answered the healer monkey. AI never liked the way they brutally enforce their laws here. I suppose it is within rationalization, them being relatively small and powerless compared to others. It takes more than a powerful claw to keep a kingdom nowadays, though! Not like the darker eras... before the Circle became our guiding principle. Before the shamans could establish the oral histories."

Kato tilted his head to one side. He saw a bit of logic in the monkey's earlier argument; even if he left now, he'd never get far enough to outrun Cetshwayo's hunters. He needed to rest... and what better way to pass the time than with someone who could spin a good yarn?

"Do you know much of the Dark Years?"

"Oh, I know plenty! I used to live to the far northeast, mmm-hmm, apprenticed by some of the greatest healer shamans in the world. Now look at me, ha ha! Reduced to entertaining the children with old stories of bygone eras that nobody cares to remember... now you just sit back, and by the time I'm done, your tail will be fine, and I'll be healing your ears! Hehehe... I shall start with 'Hystories of the Eastern See-bored.' Yes, always a good place to start... now then, from what we've pieced together, the second son of the mighty king Gwandoya had just executed a nefarious coup against his father..."

Kato found it terribly odd that one with such knowledge would find his way to such a desolate place... it was not his first choice of a vacation spot, that's for sure. Perhaps later he could ask about that. Surely another mystery was here... but for now he needed to rest, as the monkey said. He listened politely, but soon found himself dozing off.

He vaguely noticed a worm crawling over his paw. It was like all worms. Small, pink, fun to slurp... Kato smiled as he remembered the contests he and his friends had had when they were kits. Always trying to outdo each other by slurping the loudest or the messiest. He snatched it up and downed it in one hungry gulp, chasing the memories away with good food. Somehow the worm reminded him of something... a lightless place like the dark soil they crawled around in. He shrugged and passed it off as a fancy of mismatched memories and emotions.

He was sure it wasn't important anyway. Since when was a single worm of any importance at all?

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"Kafele, get up."

"M'tired, Ghedi..."

"Yeah, well, I'm the one who had the late watch. Come on, we got a lot of ground to cover today. I don't want to wake up surrounded by angry pridals."

"We're pridals, Ghedi."

"No, we are rogues. We have been rogues for three days now, and we are not far enough away to be safe."

"How far is that?"

"Far enough away that we do not recognize a thing when we look over our shoulders."

"Hnn... sounds good to me."

Kafele stood up slowly, letting Ghedi take the lead again. The older lion wasn't so sure he enjoyed this, being so responsible… but he knew that it was the only thing left for them to do if they were going to stay alive. Ghedi and Kafele were young in more than one sense of the word. They had never had to do anything apart from the pride, and now, all of a sudden, they had been violently thrust into the outside world. Ghedi didn't know which way he was going. Instinct just told him to go as far away as possible, and get some food in their bellies. Very soon they would have to try and hunt… on their own. And not just the occasional sickly rodent or lizard, either. Their bellies would soon begin to ache.

"Hey… you smell that?" Kafele said all of a sudden. He raised his nose to the air, and Ghedi did the same.

"I do… it is meat. Much of it."

Their faces lit up with smiles, and they set off towards the smell, which drew them in like a tempting lioness. Vultures marked the presence of a kill. Bless those disgusting feather brains, the brothers thought! What a strange twist of fate that seekers of death would give them new hope for life! Ghedi cleared his throat as they came closer through the grass, scattering lizards and insects that had made their homes there.

"Now, Kafele… you do know what it may mean to get this kill?"

"Yes."

"We may have to steal from someone else. There could be a fight."

"I know, Ghedi."

"And you are still willing to follow me?"

"I'd follow you anywhere, brother, and I'm too hungry to care. I'd charge into a pack of hyenas if I knew you were with me."

The brothers looked at each other and smiled. That cleared that right up. Kafele would follow Ghedi anywhere, and Ghedi would only have to choose the direction. A leader was nothing without someone to follow them… but Kafele was a support, not a servant, and that made things all the better. When they reached the kill, however, which was already being attended to by a crowd of vultures around the perimeter, they did not find a vicious group of lionesses, or a pack of snarling hyenas… there was only a single leopard gnawing on the flank of the gazelle he had brought down only recently, in the process of dragging the kill to the relative safety of a nearby grove of trees. He looked up at the lions and groaned.

"All right, fine," he said grudgingly. "Take it, just don't hurt me."

"Much obliged," Ghedi replied, trying not to sound smug. It was good to be a lion. Kafele hesitated a moment, but as Ghedi seemed ready to simply start devouring the carcass, he followed suit. The leopard and the vultures waited cautiously nearby, watching and waiting for their turn.

Their turn was hardly anything. The leopard had only scraps after the two voracious males were done with his kill, and sniffed disdainfully after he licked and crunched and rent apart whatever he could get out of the pitiful meal. After that, surprisingly enough, leaving the vultures to squabble over the almost contemptibly sparse remains, they had a pleasant conversation.

"I am Gidotana," the leopard had said after they began walking in no particular direction. The lions and the leopard knew they were natural foes, but today neither party felt inclined to pursue their instinctive urges. There was no reason to be particularly malicious; the leopard had given up his kill with the appropriate swiftness and didn't feel the worse for it… he had other stashes the lions would never find and, judging how swiftly they were walking, would never be interested in. Kafele didn't enjoy stealing, but kept his opinions to himself. They were in the void between kingdoms. Everything out here was purely a matter of survival, and the two lions were not interested in claiming an old, slow leopard's territory anyway.

Or, perhaps, they were all simply starved for a good conversation with another civilized animal rather than for food.

"Do you know what lies in the direction we are headed, Gidotana?" Ghedi asked.

"Yes. Kingdoms. Large ones. News of them, I cannot give, since I rarely visit them in my old age. You two youngsters would be well advised to stay away from them if you want to survive, unless you prove yourself useful."

Kafele glanced at him.

"We just stole your kill not ten minutes ago, and now you're concerned for our well-being?"

"Oh, that's nothing, nothing I can't handle. It is the Circle of Life. Out here, you simply accept it. Fighting back against it can only lead to ruin. And that was only one kill of the many I have left in my life. In truth that kill was not really necessary to me anyway."

Kafele accepted this answer with a straight face. Neither of them found it odd the leopard was so quick to give them news, and would probably ask for some in return. Talk was cheap, after all. Still, it was striking for the two lions, who had grown up with their food delivered to them most of their lives, that someday they would be forced to do what their own forefathers did, and scavenge like the carrion birds behind them, or even encounter a creature they would be forced to steal from. Then again, this was only the second in what was sure to be a long list of things they never expected to happen.

"In any case…" said Gidotana, "these lands are entirely unclaimed by any one kingdom. But that makes them all the more dangerous. Watch yourselves. I failed in watching myself, and so it went. If you want to skirt the larger kingdoms and avoid being killed as vagabonds there is a desert to the west you can remain on the outskirts on…"

"Thank you," said Ghedi. "That is all we can ask of you after that. I'm afraid we have little in return except our thanks for giving up your kill so easily. I hope you know we don't enjoy this…"

"Nobody does," the leopard replied. "I don't like it at all. But why make it harder than it has to be? You could have chased me off or killed me, and added to that sparse meal, yet you did not. You even saved some for me… don't hide it, I saw you. I do not see that often in lions, and so I… suppose that is why it was so easy to speak to you. Selflessness is extremely rare out here in the hinterlands."

"Nevertheless-…" Kafele began, but Gidotana would have none of it.

"One more thing," he said as they neared the limits of his territory, having walked the rest of the way in silence. The leopard instinctively wanted to see them out personally after their theft; the lions didn't realize it, but sadly nobody was as altruistic as this out of purely heartfelt motives. Not when survival was on the line.

"I have only heard vague news of this from far flying birds. To the northwest, beyond the desert, there is rumored to be a vast and great kingdom, named only the Pride Lands. It has become a refuge, so I heard."

"From what?" asked Ghedi, feeling that he would not like the answer.

"Death," replied the leopard, his face tight. Kafele coughed at the blunt answer, but the other cat pressed on.

"Something stirs to the far south. I haven't seen anyone come from that direction in months. Nobody goes south anymore, either. No real reason. It's just that nobody wants to. Some sort of malice is visible on the distant horizon to the few shamans who live here… I only met a single eagle flying up north before all contact was lost as far as I know. He refused to speak to me. Only wanted to get to safety… he'd been through something terrible. Chased, and hunted, his eyes said. He flew on after resting in my territory, babbling about inevitability and woe. I warn you, both. Your theft of my kill may yet only be the beginning of many necessary evils in the days ahead."

The lions walked on as the leopard paused on the edge of his territory, watching the young lions move towards civilization. Something about them had caught his eye. But having recollected that ominous tidbit, he was only too glad to see them vanish as quickly as they had come.

A/N: Ugh… that was probably the most _boring _chapter I ever wrote in my life, I swear. Thank you, thank you for reading this far, and I promise, it'll get more interesting soon.


	4. Chapter 4

"All right… who can tell me what this plant is, and what it does?"

"Oh! Oh! I know, teacher! Me!"

"Very well, Sauti…"

"It's an aloe! Useful for treating headaches and stopped up digestion."

"Diplomatically put, Sauti! Correct, as well. You're coming along fast."

Bapoto the vervet healer smiled down at his pupils. They were such bright, cheerful things; it was hard not to cheer up when they came over for lessons. His latest addition to the class, the little meerkat Kato, sat amongst them all, a smile of contentment on his face. Odd that he had that marking of color right down his snout there, the vervet thought to himself as he studied the meerkat's snout on up from that smile. Kato was a good student as well; attentive, quiet, and always gracious enough to award credit to the rest; he was a boon to them all, Bapoto was certain. For almost two weeks now he'd been here in the healer's tree, barely moving on his own of course for fear that his tail would reopen and be rendered forever useless. For three days he sat almost unmoving, constant pain etched on his oddly colored face (the marking right down his forehead leading to his nose being always plain as day). And yet, he never fussed, never complained, always bearing his burden silently, but accepting aid whenever offered. It was almost as if he wanted to make as little an impression on the world as possible, and Bapoto couldn't fathom why. Otherwise he merely stayed in the makeshift nest Bapoto constructed for him and suffered his constant talks on the miserable state of things. On the fourth day however, the young ones came. Vervet children from the troupe were given to Bapoto twice a week for lessons on how to become better monkeys, memorizing healing materials, and other important matters. Kato suffered them as well. In fact, seeing their energetic, curious, and above all innocent faces brought a smile to his face. The first the monkey had seen in fact. Of course they were more interested in their viciously wounded visitor than anything else.

Kato was happy to answer most of their questions, bearing them all with that same quiet stoicism. His quiet demeanor and small size, coupled with his lack of activity, quickly made the youngsters lose interest in him as an oddity, and mostly ignored him for the lecture. However, when he answered a particularly hard question for the class on how to differentiate a certain poisonous plant from its safer cousins (a random bit of data he remembered from his training a while back), they suddenly designated him one of their own, and among the smarter bunch. Next class he was sitting with them. After that he was talking with them. In the fourth and final class he was an established member of the troupe in their eyes. He even received a couple visits from older members of the troupe, curious about Bapoto's newest mercy mission. Kato remembered specifically the stoic face of their leader, Gakere, who didn't give his name and merely scowled at the meerkat as he asked a few simple questions, and then hopped away. Bapoto assured him nothing would come of it.

During all of this, however, Kato knew in the back of his head he had to get going soon. It had been almost two weeks. Eventually he would have to leave, or the hunters would find him again and they would tear the troupe apart to get to him. Kato couldn't let that happen. He had almost gotten the pangolin killed when he stuck around his shelter and pondered giving up. Now he knew that such lax thought would not be tolerated, whether by fate or anything else. His mission remained the same.

Unfortunately, fate cared little for what his mission was. It caught up with him soon enough.

"Kato," asked Bapoto after the lessons were complete, "how is your tail doing? I noticed you have become far more active in the last three days."

Kato stood up and stretched. He swung his still heavily wrapped tail back and forth.

"I can bend it now," he said simply, in that characteristically withdrawn voice of his. Bapoto had become rather fond of it. It fit the little meerkat very well. It saddened him that soon they would part ways. Kato had actually been willing to help when he was able to move again, getting him materials he stored in the higher branches and whatnot. He also marveled at Kato's patience. Usually ones of his kind would be going insane with being cooped up in a tree for weeks on end, but Kato… he was no ordinary meerkat. He knew his place in the world, Bapoto mused with a smile, and wasn't afraid to remain within it. A very proper outlook, if one asked the old healer what he thought of it.

However, there were some who did not share Bapoto's enthusiasm for their guest. The next day, as Bapoto was showing Kato various healing materials and their organizations, there was a swishing in the trees behind them. They looked up to see Safwani, the young messenger of their troupe, looking rather urgent.

"The elders want to see Kato," he said simply. Kato and Bapoto looked to one another, and then Bapoto nodded.

"Very well. Lead the way, Safwani."

It took a few minutes to get all the way down the healer's tree, even with Bapoto's help, and even longer to reach the Seat of Elders, even with Kato riding on Bapoto's shoulder. The Seat, the largest tree in the grove, was an impressive, thickly branched arrangement, very imposing and twisted, the gnarled branches not threatening, but giving off an aura of venerable dignity and power. The seat of the oldest monkeys in the troupe, along with their decided leader, it was a solemn place to be. Along the way, Kato noticed several other vervets watching them with a mixture of fascination and caution. It confused him. Whatever the elders wanted to speak to him about, he decided, it couldn't be all that good.

Once Kato and Bapoto had made their way into the inner sanctum, a large space (speaking relative to the monkeys) within the bowels of the thickest branches, Kato realized how empty the place was. The leaves almost blotted out all sunlight, leaving a filtered, dappled splash of gold over most of the sanctuary. At the edges sat five vervet monkeys, all grizzled and grey with crooked fingers and wispy fur under their chins. In the middle sat a sixth monkey. Kato recognized him as Gakere, the troupe leader whom he had only seen for all of ten minutes when he first arrived. Bapoto sat Kato down and leaned back next to him. Safwani, who had led them here, respectfully bowed out of the proceedings and exited the tree, disappearing like he was part of the leaves themselves. Even the hoots and howls of the rest of the troupe were oddly muted in here.

There was silence for a minute or so as the elders got their first glance of their visitor the youngsters had nattered incessantly about. Their land was usually a quiet one, and any visitation was an event to be considered by all. However, it was also to be treated with caution.

"You are named Kato, yes?" began the elder on the far right, who spoke in a wheezy, nasal voice. Kato nodded simply.

"I am."

"And," started another, whose voice was much clearer, "you know, through the education of our revered healer Bapoto, who lays claim to these lands?"

"The Samburu," Kato replied quickly. "The lion pride this troupe pays homage to, if I am not being presumptuous."

"Then," began Gakere, in a severe, strict tone of voice, "you know your presence places us in peril."

Kato started, until one of the elders shushed Gakere.

"Oh, must you be so dramatic?" he complained. "It isn't against the law to take a stranger in."

"Strangers equal information," Gakere replied, looking a bit testy. "And the Samburu are always thirsty for that. You all know how paranoid they are. When their ghulam comes for the census, he will want to interrogate the meerkat."

"I fail to see how this places us in any position of particular 'peril,' Gakere," said the one on the far right again. "You are the leader of this troupe, but you are still young and rash. Your concern is noted, but please, tell our visitor your reasons for thinking this way."

Gakere licked his lips and started up again.

"When last I was at court with the Samburu-…" Kato heard Bapoto give a tiny snort behind him. The healer had told him earlier the Samburu had no 'court' of any kind, but called it such for aesthetic purposes.

"-I overheard Letsego speaking with his ghulam. He told him to place anyone who harbored strangers over the next few weeks under especial supervision. And the last thing we need is that, especially with our ceremonies coming up."

Kato looked at Bapoto, who gave him a glance that said he would explain things later. Gakere continued.

"This meerkat is a stranger, who came to us under strange circumstances, and garbed in odd wares." Kato unconsciously felt the leaf around his neck that hid his heretical mark. He had exposed himself even more with the weird article than he had intended to hide himself with it.

"I say that if we can't get rid of him, we should find a way to hide him until the census is complete."

The elders looked around at one another, then scooted farther back into the shadows, conferring with whispers and secret hand gestures, before the one who had been right next to Gakere spoke up.

"Concern duly noted, but surely this meerkat can cause no harm. We see no need to hide him from the Samburu, who surely will be watching us closely if you heard correctly. If they discover we are hiding things from them, anything that we do not normally hide, anyway, not that we actually do hide something since they know what we're hiding-"

"Oh, get on with it," said the wheezy one. The other continued after coughing sheepishly.

"Yes, well, our point is, Gakere, it may be unwise to not comply with the Samburu, especially with Letsego becoming rather unhinged, as it were. We too have conferred with them on occasion. Letsego's paranoia is becoming intolerable, and it is therefore only prudent to concede to them, until a new chieftain is declared."

"You mean you want to bow down to them in their weakness," Gakere countered. The elders gave him a sharp glance that silenced him.

"We know you are working for the interests of the troupe, Gakere, but remember, you are not the sole decision maker here," the previous speaker continued. "Our judgment has been given. The meerkat should not be hidden. Do you concur?"

Gakere considered for a moment before nodding. The elders at last turned to Kato.

"Very well, it is decided. Should your injuries prevent your leaving you will be offered up to the Samburu for their council to preside over. Now then. To something useful."

For the next half hour or so they plied Kato with succinct questions about where he came from and where he was going, if he had family, and whether he planned on staying with the troupe if the Samburu allowed him. There were, after all, no meerkat colonies they knew of nearby to which Kato could transfer.

Kato answered that he had left his original colony due to plague, his family consisted of two sisters and one brother whom had gone their separate ways, and he was simply looking for another home. He didn't know if he would stay here or not. That was the only true part of his explanation. It was easy to lie, because they had no way of knowing the truth. Kato didn't like lying, but he had to, or his life was forfeit. He could only pray to the stars above his deceptions wouldn't bring doom on this fairly generous troupe's heads. He wondered for a moment if the truth, if it saved other lives and took his own, was not better than a lie that made others possibly suffer so he could complete his own tasks. What was done was done, however. There was never any going back.

As to why he had that ridiculous leaf around his neck, well, it became very uncomfortable under the hot sun on the savannah. The monkeys decided this was very novel, and then sent the meerkat on his way.

Through the whole session, Gakere watched the meerkat like a hawk that eyed its next meal. Kato was glad to be away from him.

"How did I do?" he asked Bapoto on the way back to his 'home' tree. The vervet raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, quite well, I should think. They're letting you stay until you're healed, which is to be expected. We are not totally uncivilized out here."

"I would never think otherwise," replied Kato. "I owe you my life, to be sure. You and your troupe."

"It was merely our duty to the Circle," Bapoto says. "We may be divided by predator and prey, but that does not mean we cannot be considerate to those in need."

Kato went silent and said no more. He hunched his shoulders to hide the back of his neck.

That night, Kato was up late, Bapoto having gone off on another tour of duty to find someone else to help. He would be back in about three days. Kato wasn't planning on leaving the tree, not wanting to cause more trouble for the troupe than he might have already. The sounds of the vervets had mostly died down except for a few insomniacs wandering around, getting late night snacks. Kato was lying on his back, despite that it caused some aches in his tail, but he wanted to see the stars.

It had been said many times that truly good creatures joined the stars when they died, to be with the kings of the past and serve in their celestial kingdoms forever, from the lowest mouse, to the largest elephant. From what Kato knew life up there wasn't far removed from it down here, except everything was… clearer. Colors were brighter, loads were lighter, and everything was generally cheerful and good. Kato shifted his head, making his leaf cape rustle.

It reminded him that he was forever cut off from that place. A heretic had no place in the world, or with the kings of the past. Never would he know a place where he would be happy, all because of a bit of missing fur on the back of his neck. If the troupe found him out, they would have no choice but to chase him out, or destroy him immediately. Best not to linger on thoughts like that. He just had to heal up and be on his way… that's all.

He turned on his side, heart suddenly heavy. Curling up against the night's chill, he found he couldn't sleep, and his mind wandered, back home, back before, before any of this happened. He hadn't been happy then, either, not really…

Kato saw himself when he was younger, still in training to be part of the elite corps of sentries that guarded the borders of their territory that touched the jungle from all comers. Not only that, but they were expected to do the hard scouting and fighting. It was a hard, harsh life, demanding in every aspect. One had little time to do anything except follow orders. In a sense it was worse than regular meerkat life… at least there, one could talk to their friends in the course of their duties.

"Come on, Kato!" a friend of his, Aneesa, said from behind. "The new moon celebrations are going to start any minute. Don't wanna be late for the Sky Sentry's rebirth, do you?" The male said it with a grin. Everyone knew the whole thing was just an excuse to have some laid back fun for once in their monotonous lives.

Kato sighed.

"Sorry, I'm… busy," he said in a mutter. "Jemadari's expecting me to review these duty schedules, then I gotta help Idowu sort out the current shift…"

"Nothing ever happens around the colony, Kato, even Jemadari knows that…" Aneesa stepped forward, smiling mischievously.

"You take your jobs way too seriously, even for a meerkat, and that's just scary. Just tell that old codger to give you guys a break once in a while… everyone knows nothing comes out of the jungle this time of year and ever since we allied ourselves to the lions… who works on the New Moon Festival, anyway?"

When Kato didn't give a reply, Aneesa leaned in closer, whispering with a wile in his eyes.

"Subira's already there, waiting for someone to help with the decorations…"

That gave him pause. He looked up from the duty roster painted on the wall, his eyes seeming to light up at the mention of the name. He turned to Aneesa, a ghost of a smile on his face, which quickly fell away.

"If… if I can convince Jemadari to give me a couple hours, at most, I'll be there after it starts-"

"Ha! Great, Kato. See you there." Aneesa saluted lazily and left. Kato sat back down to work, pondering what he'd be able to do there if he was able to get out of duty for a couple hours. Jemadari would allow no more.

He didn't make it. The assignment had come up. The assignment that had sent him away on a day that should have been one of merriment, burdening him with care beyond reasoning.

The assignment that made him a heretic, and an exile.

Kato shook his head quickly, clearing those thoughts from his head. He still refused to face those memories directly. He knew that if he broke down and gave in to the regret that stemmed from his crime, his mission would be over. He stared up at the stars again. The only ones who knew the truth were up there, if they even cared. Kato had to forget everything else except his mission. His duty. The only thing he had to live for had nearly killed him thrice already. The irony made him sputter with laughter, which sounded meek and hollow, just like everything else about him.

Soon after, all was silent again.

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A/N: Sorry not too much happened... I had run out of steam for a couple days and wanted to just put an update on here. Be prepared! More is coming!


	5. Chapter 5

"_I will not hide it from you, my warriors. We are in the direst of peril. The enemy surrounds us, and we are the last hope of getting our charges to safety. In this, I ask you to remember our oath."_

"_Exception for none! Duty for all!"_

_Kato's ears flicked back and forth at the resolute chorus of fell voices. He looked over to Munyiga, the last living senior in their tattered outfit. Munyiga kept his eyes on the other animals and the sturdy cheetah leading the mantra as he paced back and forth before them all. They were so few…_

"_We swore, on our honor, our fathers' graves, our childrens' unborn spirits, to uphold our responsibility! Those who would abandon this are heretics! Scum beneath hunting, curs beneath contempt!"_

"_We shall tear their name from the Circle!" blared the resounding answer._

In Bapoto's tree, Kato stirred uncomfortably. His memory dreams twisted and swirled, almost malicious in their intensity.

"_For a traitor like you, there can be no greater heresy! Let this bungler be an example to all who would destroy the sanctity of brotherhood within the Circle!"_

The meerkat curled up instinctively, his breath getting shorter and quicker.

"No…" he whispered.

"_Make me proud, Kato."_

"I'm sorry…"

"_Don't you realize what you've done?!"_

"Please…"

"_There can be no greater shame than this treachery!"_

"I didn't mean to… I swear…"

"Hey Kato, can you come watch us?"

The sheer absurdity of the question snapped the meerkat from his reverie. That wasn't a dream… somebody was talking to him. He snatched the distraction like a life line, and tore himself away from the dark confines of his subconscious. His eyes fluttered open. It took a moment for his vision to clear. It was well past morning, maybe even near noon, judging by how bright it was. Sauti was seated next to him, smiling.

"W… what?"

"C'mon, Kato! We wanna go play, but all the adults say they're too busy to watch us."

"You're a meerkat, right?" sounded another voice. Ah… that would be Sauti's brother, Boraafya. He hopped up next to his sibling and tilted his head at Kato, who had yet to get up from lying on his stomach.

"Last time I checked," Kato said wryly. Boraafya waved it off.

"Well, we, I mean, us and the other youngsters, wanna go do something, since it's an off day, so we started to talk, and we talked about a lot of stuff, and we talked about going to the pond and trying to catch fish, or fishing for crocodiles, and then Sauti said that wouldn't be fun-"

"We were wondering if you could stand sentry," Sauti interrupted in a much more polite, concise tone. "Please, Kato? We asked everyone else, really, we did, and they'd never let us anywhere without an adult… and relatively speaking, you're older than all of us, even if you are a lot smaller."

Kato smiled, bemused. It flattered him that they would come to ask him to watch over them, even if they were just desperate for a reason to get away from the adults. He didn't mind. It would be better than sitting here in the tree reciting healing recipes and sneezing from all the various fungi and powders.

"Of course," he said which got him a cheer. It certainly lightened his heart after his fevered dreams.

It only took a few minutes to get to said pond, and a few minutes more for Kato to find a suitable spot to watch them from. Some of the other children asked if he wanted to join, but he said he was under strict orders from Bapoto not to have too much activity. The children all nodded sagely; they respected the old, friendly healer greatly. And besides, Kato wasn't in the mood for running around and dodging hyper vervets much larger than he.

"Mind your steps, Boraafya!" he called after the young monkey, who kept letting his eyes wander as he leapt from branch to branch. Otherwise they all seemed quite capable for their age.

It was calming though; sitting in the cool shade, watching the monkeys go to work with their dexterous hands, fiddling with everything they could grab to satisfy their curiosity. They had a contest to see who could jump the farthest over the pond without falling in, panicking fish whenever one fell short. The first few times, Kato leaped up and was ready to jump in after them, but apparently they didn't think much of it. They were decent paddlers and Kato soon got used to the sight without having a heart attack every time it occurred.

It was almost enough to convince even his meerkat instincts that maybe he could relax.

Of course, the moment he closed his eyes, he heard a snap, a thud, and a yelp. Several of the vervets chattered worriedly, and Kato was up on the instant, jumping down from his post with an agility that belied his invalid state. He was thankful that Jemadari had pushed him and his comrades so hard, even if it did lead to becoming something of a social misfit.

Not too surprisingly, scatter-brained Boraafya had clambered onto a branch too thin for his weight, and collapsed. He was holding his ankle and groaning and whimpering, with his sister Sauti standing over him and nagging him incessantly, arms akimbo.

"Look at yourself, Boraafya! What'll mom think of me after this? Can't you learn to be more careful? You'll probably never climb again if you keep letting yourself get distracted! Ugh, I hate being the oldest sibling!"

Kato skidded to a halt and motioned for Sauti and the others to stand back. Boraafya looked down at him, grateful to the meerkat for quieting his sister. Kato smiled kindly and came up to his ankle.

"Let me look at it," he said softly. Boraafya obeyed and opened his paws, revealing the bruised appendage. Kato felt it gingerly with his paws, mindful of the child's whimpers.

"It's mostly just bruising," was Kato's diagnosis. "You're lucky youngsters can take falls so well. Old Bapoto would have broken something. But don't worry. You'll be fine in a couple days. You just need rest."

Boraafya nodded solemnly, sniffling. Kato smiled again.

"Don't worry, this is nothing. You lived, and you learned, which is what's really important. Sauti, get a couple others to help him back."

He patted Boraafya's leg as the other children helped him up, playful moods gone and seeming rather sullen and accusatory of Boraafya's clumsiness. Kato decided to cut in.

"When we get back, I'll tell you all about the time _I _fell out of a tree for the first time. Much worse than this, I can tell you right now." That got a couple eager grins.

He went back to the pond to make sure no stragglers were left behind. He stopped abruptly, absently fingering his leaf cape around his neck.

The whole incident had been so much like when he was still a rookie sentry, getting the 'easy' job of watching the kits when they went outside. So much like home. In the confines of the pond clearing, the empty space was filled with the little meerkat's melancholy sigh. He forced himself to turn away and start gathering his thoughts for story-time. Fortunately, he had never been forced to put himself through _that _with his old colony's kits.

Another panicky shout brought him running back to the others, pushing to the front of the group. He had just enough time to wonder why they had all frozen, when he very nearly slammed into the snout of a large wild dog that had brought his face down to glare at the meerkat. Kato froze up on instinct, eyes wide. The wild dog lifted his head, flexing his powerful neck and shoulders. Behind him more dogs had arrived, not a one with a friendly expression.

They didn't attack, however. Sauti and the others had a look of respectful terror on their faces. It took all of Kato's willpower not to bolt into the undergrowth.

"Kids," he said, voice tight. "Back to the troupe." They didn't move. He turned back and barked at them.

"Go!" That got them hustling, the dogs simply staring at their retreating backs. With them gone, he started showing his own fear, shivering gently as he turned back to the large male in front of him, obviously the alpha.

"Well, little one," he said in a smooth, confident voice, full of poise and ready to snap.

"Where did you come from? And what are you doing living with the vervets? I've never seen you before."

Kato gulped down the lump in his throat, staring up at the dog's keen, predatory eyes. His paws shook like a beetle's still wet and new from molting. Normally, he would be more than ready to face a creature like this down, but he was all alone, and it happened so suddenly, and there so many more of them… He set his jaw and took a deep breath, remembering what Jemadari had taught. Banish fear and turn it to resolution. _Remember your duty. Remember your oath, remember Tafari, _he told himself. He had made so many promises he couldn't keep…

"You must be from the Samburu," he said in his quiet tongue, but it sounded very clear and didn't shake at all. He was proud of himself. The dog, of course, didn't notice his humble voice for a moment, looking around and blinking.

"Hm? Us? Yes," he declared. "I am Letsego's ghulam. Here for the census of mighty Samburu's lands… the monkeys don't usually take in outsiders. Why are you here?" Kato stared solidly back at him.

"That's something the vervets will have to tell you," he replied evenly. The wild dog smirked.

"Indeed."

He started circling Kato in a manner distinctly reminiscent of when Kato watched a group of lions circle a buffalo trapped in mud, waiting for it to tire, to give up, to break before them. The other dogs watching in silence. Kato refused to budge, clenching his paws.

_Remember the oath!_

He suddenly felt the dog's hot breath sniffing at his leaf cape. His whole body tensed. All the creature had to do was nip it right off if he so chose. He would be exposed, he would be killed! The sound of the wild dog's breathing so close and so scrupulous made him shiver again despite himself. Images of the buffalo's final, bloody fate resounded in his mind. So close…

The wild dog made a small 'pfft' sound, and removed his muzzle. Kato breathed again.

"Odd garb, little stick tail," remarked the canine. He circled around to Kato's front, the dappled sunlight keenly illuminating his healthy and lustrous pelt, his gleaming yellow eyes following the dark band of fur between Kato's eyes down to his nose.

"Odd, odd, odd," he repeated, shaking his head.

"You don't belong here," he finally concluded, sending a puff of breath from his wide nostrils into Kato's face.

"It's not a matter of belonging," Kato said with a measure of defiance. "I'm exactly where I need to be. Watching over the young instead of terrifying them." His voice sounded so quiet, yet so certain. The dog didn't like it.

"Ha ha ha!" he barked in response, throwing his head back. "You have guts, stick tail, I'll give you that much! If you knew us you'd know why they fear us. We are the sons of the moon, and chasers of the sun! We can run farther than the vulture flies. Even the lions beg our services and must steal the scraps of our kills. The Great Kings of the Past have blessed our ancestors with glory on the plains, just as they cursed yours to live in secrecy and darkness. Don't think you can be uppity with _us, _little stick tail. Even the ancestors do not bother with such as you. In fact, I'm done with you as well. Come on!" he snapped at his subordinates. They stumbled to more attentive poses.

"We have a census to complete, and this is only the halfway mark. Are those stragglers back there?! Shift yourselves, you lazy-tailed layabouts!"

They all stalked past Kato, some ignoring him, some glaring at him. The alpha who had interrogated Kato sent him one last arrogant glance over his shoulder. Kato stared after him, locking eyes and refusing to let go. The contest was ended when a slender female bumped up against the alpha and made him turn away, roughly and passionately nuzzling her snout into his neck.

"I _love _it when you talk like that…" Kato heard her murmur as the two walked off shoulder-to-shoulder. The meerkat rolled his eyes heavily and followed them back to the troupe. This was going to be a rough afternoon.

--------------------------------------------------------

Kato found himself on the outside of the controlled chaos that was going on when the dogs found their way to the troupe. This suited him just fine. As long as those pack animals didn't make any trouble, he was going to stay out of the business of his temporary abode. The vervets chattered quietly with one another, moving back and forth in a constant flurry while Gakere and the elders spoke in hushed tones with the dogs. They seemed to be discussing something important, or the information of the census was regarded as sensitive for some reason. Kato turned his head to see the youngsters clumped into their own mob, surrounded by a few sturdy adults. Sauti and her brother kept making guesses to each other of how long it would take this time, or playing little games like remembering which dog was which from the last census by recognizing their unique coat patterns.

As the meerkat's eyes roamed the treetops, they abruptly halted on Bapoto, who had come back a little early, it seemed. Kato wondered why. He seemed to take his duties more seriously than any census. He returned to watching the elders.

His eyes met unexpectedly with theirs, as well as the pack's alpha. They were all looking at him… subtly, out of the corners of their eyes, but he could see it plain as day. He tensed and crossed his arms, wondering what would come of this. The scrutiny did not last longer than a few moments, fortunately. He leaned against a tree, sighing and thinking. A thought suddenly crossed his mind. When he was being healed… had perhaps Bapoto been a bit more investigative than first thought? Could he have removed his leaf cover and seen the heretical mark? But no… he'd have surely exposed him instead of care for him. Heretics were worthy of neither pity nor mercy. Only death. Bapoto could not know.

The troupe seemed to hang on every moment, waiting with bated breath for any decisions that might suddenly be made. There were a few spikes of interest, but soon it looked more and more normal. Kato was the only one who remained tense. He could see that despite the low voices, what was being discussed was of some great import, given the gesticulations of the elders and Gakere's harsh tone of voice.

Then, the dogs simply murmured their thanks to the monkey elders, and were off again. A few of the monkeys seemed confused. Sometimes the dogs would even try to sniff out disease or the like, but today had just been so… uneventful. To them, it was just another day.

Kato felt many old eyes on him as he turned away to go back to Bapoto's tree. Strangely the old monkey wasn't there. He decided to wait to get some answers.

As he sat, a creeping paranoia began to develop on the edge of his senses. What if they knew? What had they been conversing about him for? Had Bapoto told anyone? And if he did, what would they do? Would the dogs come for him in the dark? He muttered all kinds of possibilities to himself, refusing to sleep, even close his eyes. There was nothing that could be done. He could only wait and see.

It was around midnight a voice came to him.

"Kato," it said. It was not Bapoto. Kato sprang up and glanced around.

"What is it?" he asked quietly, seeing a shadowy silhouette descend onto the main cluster of branches. The moonlight illuminated the sinewy muscle and stern face of Gakere, the troupe leader. Kato tensed.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. Gakere ignored him. It was a very easy voice to dismiss if one was so inclined.

"You have put this place in danger," he answered instead.

"Believe me, Gakere, I know that far too well," Kato replied, his shoulders sagging as he shook his head sadly.

"My injuries are the only thing that's kept me. If you wish I can be gone by morning."

"Good. Because that is what I very much wish." Kato blinked slowly and could find no answer to such a terse declaration. There was an awkward silence until Gakere spoke again.

"But… not without help." There was a rustling behind Kato, and this time, the meerkat turned to see Bapoto sitting there.

"My apologies for being late," the fat monkey wheezed. He was holding a large bundle of things close to his chest, wrapped in the carriage of a large leaf. He hopped up clumsily into his tree and dropped the leaf.

"Bapoto…" Kato said quietly. The older monkey heard his unspoken question, and smiled.

"It's all right, Kato. I… should have told you before, but-"

"We know your secret," Gakere blurted out. Kato froze, his muscles tightening and his paws clenching into fists. Bapoto held up an appeasing paw.

"I found it just days after your rescue, while you were still incoherent. You can blame me all you wish, but until recently I never told a soul. I have only told Gakere of this because I knew he was the only one to trust with this kind of information."

Kato was not feeling very reassured, however. He narrowed his eyes rather accusingly and drew himself up.

"Why did you not reveal me?" he asked. It would have been the only logical, sane course of action, but here he was, alive and well, able to go and play with the young. Bapoto shifted uncomfortably, and cast his eyes down.

"You remember what I told you when we first met? How I used to be apprenticed to greater shamans than I to the northeast?" Kato nodded slowly, and he went on. "I did not just learn healing from them. I learned to read some things… signs, portents, and whatnot. Sometimes it turned out to be nothing. Sometimes it turned out to be a warning against putting hotroot in the latest omnivorous recipes."

The old monkey to Kato seemed even more bent and hunched over than any other time he had seen him. It disturbed the young meerkat, to a point where he took an involuntary step back. The vervet's speech was frail and unsure, as if he were about to divulge some great secret. Then again, what could be greater than his only friend in some time knowing that he was a heretic, and had to be sent away, or killed? Again after that, was death really such a terrible thing, compared to always being on the run, a fugitive, an object of spite and contempt? Bapoto interrupted further introspection, having leaned forward, an earnest look on his formerly cheerful face, now more clearly weathered and chiseled by experience in the half-light of the moon than in any hale and hearty sunlight. It twisted something in Kato's chest to see someone so kind and fragile burdened by this. He couldn't look him in the eyes.

"Sometimes," Bapoto said, "only once or twice, mind you… once or twice, it was something much, much more."

"Bapoto explained it to me a few days ago, before the census was due to arrive," Gakere cut in. He hopped forward to sit next to Bapoto. "We may not like one another, but we do trust each other's judgment in… most cases."

"You are not just what you appear to be, Kato. Not just some injured fugitive turning up on mere chance. Not just some simple mercy mission, but something else that I can't quite put my finger on. It's been flitting around like bats in a dark cave, but it's true. That mark is more than what it says, and I know that to keep you here any longer would only bring much bad fortune," Bapoto insisted. Kato was staring at the ground, the intensity of his gaze enough to make his footpaws tingle. His shoulders were hunched and his breathing slow and stead. It seemed he was about to speak, so the other two held back their own words. Noises of the night surrounded them. Kato could hear the crickets chirping, the wind whispering, but it seemed faint, distant, swirling just out of reach. Around the area a bubble had formed, into which nothing could enter. The tension turned into a veritable wall, as the meerkat's silence stretched onward into the night, pushing away everything else around him.

"I'm not anything," Kato at last, his voice thick with emotion. He spoke haltingly, searching for his words as tenderly as young lovers reach for each other in this same kind of moonlight as he gingerly scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I- I'm not even worthy of being called a heretic. I… I don't even know what I'm doing out here. Where I'm going. What I'm trying to accomplish. How fast I need to go. I just know I can't stop yet. Things… have been happening very quickly recently. Too quickly, for me. I have lingered too long among you, anyway." He shook his head quickly. "Too long. And now, after this, I see I need to be going again."

He was about to just turn away and run, after that, but Bapoto's voice stopped him.

"You'll need some supplies. It's dangerous, and you have a very, very long way to go, talking like that." He gave his little, cheerful chuckle, which lightened Kato's spirits some.

"You don't need to-"

"Oh, but I do," Bapoto declared again. He began rummaging through his leafy bundle, and Gakere spoke up again.

"Even I don't know why we're helping you, but really, this is only practical. If the Samburu found out we had harbored a heretic, even unknowingly, there would be severe consequences. We cannot afford this. It'd cause a sensation, and probably a panic. That and I have my own reasons for keeping this a secret."

"Fiery young Gakere has that age-old defiance against authority," Bapoto said with a chuckle. Gakere snorted.

"Hardly. The elders are too quick to bow down to Letsego's demands. In his old age, he is becoming less a chieftain of Samburu and more a paranoid dictator. Lately, over the past month, he has been obsessing constantly about visitors, wants to know everything about them. It's why we hardly have gotten any, aside from you. I don't know why he wants to know so much, but I'm certainly not going to feed his madness by giving him everything he wants. And especially not with you being a… well, you know…"

Kato did know. All too well. He nodded for Gakere to go on.

"In any case, with Samburu's dogs knowing you're here, they'll report you to Letsego, and then they'll be back to collect you when you're well enough to go to Samburu's court. If there's one thing I absolutely will not do, it's make another creature suffer through _that _charade. It's only best to send you off. Distasteful as assisting a heretic may be… the benefits outweigh the bad taste this leaves in my mouth."

Kato crossed his arms, touched despite Gakere's pragmatism.

"But… won't it just cause you more trouble if they find out you sent me off without formal questioning?" Gakere only snickered.

"What can they do to us? Letsego may be going crazy, but his pride and his dogs certainly aren't. The dogs may rough me up a bit, but they can't do anything really nasty without discrediting themselves and being exposed as the bullies they really are. The pride is sensible, if not their leader, as well, honest hunters, if brutal ones. We will be fine."

"You, however, are a different matter," Bapoto said, and withdrew a small gourd, tied to a thin, grassy vine. It was plugged with a great amount of dried mud and clay. The old monkey handled it with incredible care.

"I had hoped I would never have seen a day when I would give this for a living creature to use…" he murmured. "But your need, I see, is great." He gave the small gourd to Kato, his demeanor extremely grave.

"Tie it about you like so… and never look to that gourd except in the direst of circumstances. It is a mixture of some of the deadliest venoms known to the land. Snakes, scorpions, and hornets alike have contributed to this particular mixture. May it spare your life even if you must use it to take another's. Beware that not even the mud that holds it back touches your lips. I am aware the poison may have seeped through and contains itself there in miniscule amounts. Enough, I am certain, to harm you greatly should you ingest it."

"How am I to retrieve it?" Kato asked. Bapoto smiled knowingly, and simply turned back, reached behind him, and pulled out a small, sturdy stick. At its end was a wicked looking thorn, tied with grass.

"Plunge the thorn into the gourd through the mud to retrieve the poison. It is fast enough to kill or incapacitate a creature even larger than I in, oh… perhaps two or three minutes, or more. Simply introducing such a horrid creation to the blood will be a discomfort in the extreme. I retrieved this from a meerkat like you, Kato, a mad shaman who helped build this particular venom concoction… she, unfortunately, was unable to meet you. It would have been a singularly unique experience, I assure you."

Kato solemnly took the gourd and tied it about him, looping one end up and around his shoulder. He took the thorny stick as well, observing it with a keen eye. It was two heads taller than he, not including the three inch thorn. Pointed sticks, thorns, and other improvisations were common back at his colony… this would do nicely. He swung it back and forth. It wasn't just a twig, either. It was nice and solid from the inner bark, crafted like only a crazy shaman could think up. Wouldn't last more than three seconds in a fight with a big animal, but Kato wasn't planning on any Quixotic ventures. Just barely feasible ones.

"You remember the lectures?" Bapoto asked quietly. Kato nodded. "You will need them. And a few extras in case you run into more trouble out there."

So this was it, then. Kato was leaving not two weeks after he had arrived. They had known all along, and neither of them exposed him… he was touched, but sad as well. He had hoped as always to leave on better terms than this, but he supposed it was best if a couple of them knew the truth. Knew the danger their troupe could be in. They knew he was a marked heretic, but not a fugitive… with pursuers close behind. This was for the better, really. He couldn't stay and put them in more danger than they may already be in. He began to wonder if his entire life was going to be like this.

Pushing those thoughts away for now, he turned back to the two vervets, hefting his new gear. Their eyes met, and they were quiet. No words were needed for this occasion, but Kato couldn't help but blurt out "Thank you," to his benefactors. They only nodded simply.

"Go," said Bapoto, "do what you were meant to do. I do not know how you got that mark, and only fear it would harm us both if you said so. And time is short."

"And never come back, if you can manage it," Gakere added, without any trace of humor at all in his voice. He disappeared into the trees. Kato sighed.

"He wanted to say a lot more than that," he said dejectedly. He saw it in the monkey leader's eyes. He didn't like the meerkat before, but being a heretic as well… he could tell it was all Gakere could do to keep himself from blurting out insults with every other sentence.

"I admit, this is a singularly strange experience," Bapoto said quietly. "Heretics at best are ostracized, or mutilated. The lucky ones killed outright. Understand this, Kato. I would not be acting the way I am had it not been for what I saw in that heretical scar on your neck. I saw past it, to what you really are… but I couldn't ascertain what, exactly. Be wary on the road ahead. Not all are going to be as… accommodating as I."

Kato would have said something along the lines of 'I am forever in your debt' at this point, and meant it too… but that kind of thing would probably be offensive coming from a heretic. Besides, he couldn't serve anyone if he was never coming back.

"I…" he began, and then faltered. He only gave a small smile, which Bapoto returned. Knowing they were leaving on good terms, he turned away at last.

And abruptly halted once more. In front of him stood the small group of the troupe's children. Sauti was there in front of them. Surprisingly, Bapoto did not shoo them off. There were still many hours until sunrise, after all.

"You're leaving?" she whispered plaintively. Kato held his thorn spear tightly, and sighed.

"It's complicated, Sauti," he answered lamely, head hung low. "I'm sorry. I really am."

"We're never gonna see you again, are we?" asked another youngster, Mpunde.

There was a pause.

"No," Kato said as gently as he could. Sauti edged forward.

"Can… can we at least hear that story you promised?" she asked with a meek smile. "The one where you fell out of a tree for the first time?"

Kato looked up slowly, and turned back to Bapoto, asking with his eyes what he should do. Bapoto's answer was obvious. Kato turned back to the children and nodded firmly. He could do this much, at least. Hidden here in the darkness he could find a bit of peace and share it with friends, until the morning rays began seeking him out again, driving him onward toward his unsure future. Here in the Sky Sentry's gentle light, he could feel, for tonight at least, at peace.

"Of course," he replied. The youngsters piled into the tree, and Kato sat down cross-legged in front of them, Bapoto watching from nearby, look of serenity about him. Kato set down his spear and held up his paws, gesticulating artfully as he began his tale, a very sad sort of smile on his lips.

"Well… it all started back when I was still a young sentry-in-training. Jemadari was the Senior Sentry, of course, he had always been that. That day, a very fine, misty morning, I was going to be assigned to my first solo watch. 'Nothing to worry about,' I was told, 'nothing ever happens.' Well, as you can guess, that usually means everything will happen. We had neglected to remember that this was the time of day the tree snakes were up and about…"

They had all fallen asleep when he finished. Kato took the opportunity to slink away into the dark, racing the dawn sun towards the shadowy horizon.

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A/N: Well, I actually feel pretty good about this chapter. I just feel it was a little rushed, but then again, so is Kato. Expect more on other characters soon.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: For some reason, my computer wants to change "Letsego" to "Lets ego." Whatever the heck that means. Word to burgeoning writers: never listen to your computer. Except when it's right. I hope you'll excuse my tardiness. I was distracted by a wonderful trip to Disney World with the family! I didn't see much Lion King memorabilia, but I got a simply adorable Winnie the Pooh t-shirt.

… Ahem. Now for the story. This chapter is quite long, mind, and it's my favorite yet, I think.

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Gakere stared haughtily into the face of the bulky male lion before him. He was an impressive example of his kind, round in the belly and powerful in the forelegs, with a formidably voluminous mane of dark, if graying fur. It was a shame, Gakere thought, that a beast that was once so handsome and charismatic, if a little impulsive and lacking in subtlety and wisdom, was reduced to a shambling wreck in the mind. His body was still strong, but his thoughts were prone to switching between one subject and the next, obsessing over this and that. It had started a while ago, but they had thought it would pass, just stress from losing two good and loyal lionesses in a botched hunt for a water buffalo calf. Its herd had returned to rescue the newborn and, in a rare show of vengeance, trampled two of the huntresses. But Gakere understood that for some reason or another, Letsego's mind was simply giving out, the supports inexplicably undermined, and now the whole thing was collapsing. There was no real _reason_ that he knew of, but he considered disease In any case he had to deal with it.

He had to walk carefully and choose his words wisely. The elders were not here to help him. Bapoto had been refused entrance to the court ever since he had boldly and foolishly revealed his part in allowing the meerkat to "escape." Gakere was on trial for that.

It had been one week since Kato left the vervets. One week since he had left his last safe haven and continued his journey. In that one week, things had been very chaotic in the house of Gakere and his monkeys. The wild dogs had come back from Letsego, who had demanded that the meerkat be brought before him. They were told that Kato was nowhere to be found, had slipped away in the night. The wild dogs had not been happy at all, oh no. Their alpha had bared his teeth and snapped and snarled, trying to make an impressive show in front of the vervet leader.

"This is a lie before the Circle!" the alpha male had said. "You knew the rules. You knew the law! The meerkat was a visitor, and visitors must be brought before Letsego if he so demands!"

Gakere had seated himself bravely on the forest floor, Bapoto and the others watching from above.

"If Letsego wants a tiny meerkat so badly, if your temper is any indication, Taalib, then perhaps you should go get him yourself. We do not keep prisoners for Letsego to toy with as he will. I believe it unfair to say that we should have kept the meerkat at Letsego's command _before we knew the command had been made."_

"That is irrelevant!" Taalib barked. "The law states very clearly that all visitors, great and small, are to be investigated because Letsego demands it! Your insolence will not go unpunished. You are young, Gakere, and because of that you lack prudence and wisdom. You will come with us back to Letsego's court, where you will explain yourself. Come with us. Now!"

And that had been that. Gakere felt the wind in his fur. The sun on his face. He was unafraid. Everyone knew, after all, that though there were creatures more powerful and faster and larger than monkeys, the monkeys were simply the smartest of them all, and that was the end of it. He could surely outwit this hulking mad-beast.

"Gakere, son of Nadab, step forward and present yourself," said Letsego's right paw lioness, Rukiya. She was a sycophantic servant and would remain loyal to Letsego's firm grip on power to the end. Nobody wanted to tangle with Letsego's brute strength, not even the ones among his pride who had started to despise his inner weakness. He no longer made cubs and ignored the ones he already had.

Gakere kept all this in mind as he moved forward, using his knuckles in that awkward four pawed walk monkeys had, and seated himself before Letsego. He opened his mouth to speak, but the mad brute beat him to it.

"You disobeyed my commands!" he sneered, his voice unusually high from his agitation. He had obviously worked himself into a fine temper thinking about all the presumed wrongs done to him in his life.

"You dared to keep things from me! Me, your one and only chieftain! How dare you! I'll gut you, monkey, I swear I will, I'll do it myself, yes, with these own claws! I'll tear you open and spill your guts to the birds unless you tell me _which way the meerkat went!!!"_

Everyone turned their ears back at the last words, screeched with a high degree of hysteria. It was unsettlingly odd to hear a voice like that in such a large, formerly commanding male.

"Perhaps north," Gakere said calmly. "Perhaps east. Look between the two and you could possibly pick up a trail."

"Could possibly-!" sputtered Letsego. "I have an interest, Gakere, a _vested interest_ in learning everything I can! Knowledge is power and I'll have power because I'm very knowledgeable!"

"Truly, chieftain," Gakere said with a small bow. "Very… knowledgeable."

"Yes, very," Letsego said, eyes darting back and forth suspiciously. "Everyone knows more than me on the outside. I have to have what they know. Or they'll _get _me. They'll _get _me for this Gakere, and it'll be all_ your_ fault, because you won't let me know! Why did you let him leave, hmm? Have a smart answer for _that?"_

"Lord Letsego, my mind is weak and feeble compared to yours," Gakere said slowly. "I was not of the opinion that the meerkat knew enough to satisfy your desires. Surely such a small creature is of no consequence to your vast repository of knowledge?"

Letsego turned to Rukiya.

"Repository? What's that?"

"A storing place, lord," she said calmly. Letsego snorted.

"Yes, of course I have one of those! I have lots of knowledge in my repository. I knew what that was, you didn't have to tell it to me like I'm an idiot!" he snapped at Rukiya, who flinched involuntarily.

"Of course my lord," she said.

"Of course I'm an idiot?!" Letsego said, raising his threatening bulk to all fours.

"Lord Letsego," Gakere interrupted before he could tear the poor female to shreds, "the meerkat is not really important enough to consider. Maybe it would be best if you simply let this one go."

In a flash the great lion pounced. He jumped onto Gakere, smashing his paw into the monkey's face, and crushing his skull against the ground, killing him instantly, which was an odd sort of mercy compared to what he could have done. His eyes burned with a terrible, crazed light, of the kind even shamans feared to look upon. Gakere remained still, dead as the day when the sun went down. The entire pride and Taalib's dogs stared in shock, recoiling from the grisly scene. Letsego was crazy, but he had never killed in cold blood before. Letsego glanced up at Taalib, who snapped to attention.

"I want the meerkat. And I want him alive," Letsego said in a low, fierce tone, his voice all growls and roars ready to rip from his throat. Even Taalib, normally unflappable and full of menace himself, seemed taken aback as Letsego's eyes met his. They were full of madness, and swirled with unbridled anger, but there was a startling clarity in that awful gaze. Letsego knew exactly what he was talking about when he said he wanted the meerkat. This was not the whim of a mad creature… it was something else entirely, and it made Taalib want to be away from it. He was the first to move, bowing low, and then slinking away from the scene of the murder.

"Yes, my lord," he said in a subdued voice. In minutes his entire hunting group was running after him, dashing back to the monkey's living place to find a clue to the meerkat's whereabouts. None of them wanted to remain in Letsego's lands a minute longer than they had to.

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When they reached the monkey's grove, the elders, accompanied by Bapoto, had come down to greet them. The dogs halted a respectable distance away. Taalib may have been a fierce leader, and sometimes an outright bully, but he respected the dead. He would be the one to break the news.

The elders and Bapoto all knew the look in Taalib's eyes as he stepped slowly towards them. They recognized the subdued way he held his shoulders, his head drooping lower than normal. They lowered their faces in silent acceptance of the tragedy.

"Your young leader is dead," Taalib said somewhat redundantly. "Letsego killed him. It was without reason, and I wish I had not seen it. But I have new orders."

Only Bapoto had the energy to face the dog once more.

"What is it?" he asked wearily, though he knew why the dogs had come. The dogs only ever came for two things. One was the census. The other was information on how to hunt something.

"Letsego demands the meerkat. I respectfully ask permission to allow my dogs into your home to pick up a scent trail."

Everyone knew that if they denied him, Taalib would enter anyway. There was no stopping him. He never allowed himself to feel misgivings. It was a comfortable arrangement his pack had. Being allowed to hunt alongside lions was a great honor and source of pride. It was something some dogs could only dream of. That, and Taalib held a lot of power with his position. Letsego's pride needed them because of their small size and vulnerability. So Taalib, who was not without a sense of duty, and responsibility to his pack's welfare above everything else, kept up his side of the bargain as long as the lions held up theirs. Anything that happened in between was of little consequence to him.

The eldest monkey shook his head slowly. Taalib at first thought he'd have to get rough, but then the monkey spoke.

"Go," he said in a raspy, weary voice. "Take your… meerkat. Trouble us no longer and leave us to grieve properly."

Taalib bowed his head, and his hunting group entered.

Bapoto and the others watched from the trees, silent and still. Bapoto was surrounded by the youngsters as they watched the dogs go about their business, their keen noses sniffing out even the tiniest hints of the meerkat's presence. It was not long until they had something. Sauti watched, wide-eyed, as the dogs barked and stamped the ground with their paws, readying themselves for the hunt, and then were off, minus one, who went back the way they came. Bapoto reasoned that the one was a messenger to the rest of the pack to tell them of their mission.

Still watching the dogs dash off into the distance, Sauti spoke to Bapoto.

"Is Kato gonna be all right?" she asked warily. After a long moment, Bapoto answered.

"I am afraid… that is all up to him."

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And so Taalib and his hunters ran. They could run for hours without tiring, in that easy, loping gait dogs were known for. Despite everything lions said and did about their own prowess, Taalib knew this made them better hunters. Lions could only hope to snatch a kill at a single, adrenaline fueled moment, and if they failed, they had to try again. For dogs, this was no problem at all. Known for their tactic of literally running their prey into the ground with exhaustion, and their infamously keen senses, they were the ultimate trackers, except perhaps for vultures, who always jabbered on and on about how they were better seekers than the dogs.

Taalib's very name meant "seeker." He would prove, before the Kings of the Past, before his family, and his dead ancestors, that he could live up to the name.

With Letsego's mind failing, the fate of their pack hung by a thread every waking moment. Letsego was still coherent enough to know that they were useful, but if they ever failed, his temper might overwhelm his senses. Taalib would not allow his pack to go back to being nomads and scavengers, always avoiding lion prides and their disgustingly draconic laws over other hunters. He would survive this idiot Letsego, and help the pride's cubs grow strong, and let his pups, if he ever had them, run free without fear of lions chasing them out in the night. He would give his pack a future, and if it meant killing this meerkat, then so be it.

And of course, there was Kamaria to think about…

She always ran with him when he led the hunting packs. She was running with him now, off his left flank, silent and loyal. She was in every sense of the term his _de facto _alpha female, excepting that they had yet to mate. She instead provided him with counsel and support… and like during the census, the occasional flirt. Having known each other since puphood, and back then with Taalib in line for alpha male, it was assumed they would consummate their relationship as they reached maturity. They didn't. It drove Taalib's mother up the baobab.

Behind her came his retinue, a gathering of strong and capable dogs. There were a dozen of them, as their pack was quite large, around fifty or so. The open ranges out here meant dogs could flourish.

"Alile!" Taalib barked to the next in line, a sleek and small female dog with a sense of smell unmatched by her peers.

"Move ahead!" Taalib ordered. "Make sure our prey hasn't laid any diversions. I do not want any mistakes." He suddenly nodded to the side, ordering a halt. They all skidded to a stop, sending dust flying, their lithe bodies hardly feeling the exertion. They could go for a few hours yet.

"Listen, all of you!" he said, standing proud and tall. "Letsego's mind is becoming more unstable by the day. Soon he will be so unfit to lead, his growing sons will push him out, and then our lives will be at peace once more. But while Letsego is still powerful and dangerous, his sneering, sycophantic supporters will defend him to the death. We must outlast him. We must do this for a little while longer until a more worthy leader steps up to the task of ruling Samburu. Our pack's safety and well-being is at stake. If we fail Letsego our families will suffer! Will you let this happen?!"

"No!" came the angry chorus. Taalib nodded, sending Alile off ahead.

"Then run with me, brothers and sisters! Let this be our swiftest hunt… and so the last for Letsego."

They needed no further encouragement, and as they ran, a little more urgency lent speed to their step.

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In the middle of the vast and unconquerable plains, where the sun shone down from on high, making the grass glitter and glow, a lone meerkat was running. To the north of him was a mighty, impenetrable jungle. To the west was a river that went towards the jungle. To the east was simply more grassland.

To the south of the meerkat, where he had come from, death lay in his wake. He had woken up this morning, the week after he left the monkeys, with disturbing dreams. He knew it didn't bode well, and a vague, panicky sort of guilt had harried him all morning. So he had started running. On his hind legs, on all fours, it didn't matter. Only the feeling mattered. He did not heed the open space, or the bright sun that exposed him to so many dangers; he had scouted from atop a large rock and discovered there actually were quite few. This part of the grass was devoid of life aside from the bugs he gulped down at every opportunity. It was safe to run, to feel wind on the fur, and sun at the back. It was safe to acknowledge his guilt, and his inability to do what he had been trained to do: keep those who had helped him safe. Somehow he knew the monkeys would be in a lot of trouble for letting him go.

_Stop it Kato,_ he told himself. _There's nothing that can be done about what you've left behind. You can only do something about what's ahead. _

What was ahead came upon him suddenly and without warning. The ground gave way beneath his paws. He had been running upright, and so had been unable to properly balance himself, and found himself unexpectedly flung into the air a short distance with a gasp.

Remembering his training he drew his paws in to his chest and bore the brunt of the landing with his shoulder, but a small rock threw a kink into his roll, and sent him careening down the slope. It was very gradual, but his great speed and sudden loss of control meant a very painful experience.

He bounced, almost somersaulted in midair, and bounced again, the collision with the ground driving the wind from him and sending dirt up into the air and into his eyes and nostrils. He rolled most of the rest of the way down, grunting and yelping whenever a sharp rock found its way beneath his fur.

At last it leveled out to where he slowed to a stop, and there the meerkat lay, bruised and shaken, but miraculously unscathed but for a great many scratches, cuts, and aching muscles. Coughing up a wad of spit and grit, he remained on the ground for some time, breathing hard as he only just now began to realize how tired he was. His training had given him great stamina and fortitude, and that very same training helped him along now. It also reminded him, however, of a time when he had something to be proud of. His selflessness and helpful nature had given him a place as one of the best sentries his former colony had. He remembered the day Jemadari had finally inducted him into the corps.

His parents had been so proud, and his comrades so willing to help him along. Until the day they had been called on by the king. Until the day he had failed so miserably and utterly.

Stars above, why couldn't he just _forget?_

Willing himself to get up, he pushed himself upright and held his arm where it had bounced against a rock. Nothing broken, but it would definitely be aching for a while. He decided to find a rock and scout out whatever he had fallen into. He reached up around his neck… and discovered his leaf cape gone! There was a moment of panic as he searched around for where he had dropped it, but it had not fallen far. He could have kissed it with relief, as dry and in need of replacement as it was. After putting it back around his neck, and then making sure the gourd containing Bapoto's poison was still wrapped tightly around his shoulder, he went on.

As he moved through the grass, he noticed that the ground was more moist than the rest of the land and, in some spots, even somewhat marshy. He avoided those places studiously. Soft ground was deadly ground for meerkats, and snakes and the like enjoyed living in those stagnant ponds. By the looks of it this was a small valley in the middle of the plain, which was rather odd. Perhaps it had once been a lake in ages past, and still collected water nowadays judging from what he had seen. Perhaps some small remnant of the once giant basin was still here… he was quite thirsty. He began heading towards what he figured was the center.

The journey was uneventful until he stumbled upon something interesting. There was indeed a large clearing, and there was also a large waterhole to his great relief, circled with several acacia trees. But it was what was inside of it that disturbed him.

It was a water buffalo, floundering in the mud around the perimeter. It was a young male by the looks of it, with what seemed to be fresh claw marks along its back. Kato, forgetting his thirst for the moment, stepped forward.

"Hello?" he asked. The buffalo, which had been very still, suddenly arose and began struggling again.

"Ah! Who? What? Get away!" he said, his voice indicating a near panic. Kato stopped moving and held up his paws.

"It's all right," he said calmly. "I am not here to hurt you. I'm just a simple meerkat looking for a drink."

The buffalo swung his powerful head towards the meerkat. Kato could see the powerful muscles rippling beneath his neck even at his age.

"I… I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't realize…"

"It's all right," Kato said soothingly. "How did you get into this position?"

"Hyenas!" the young buffalo said, struggling again. Kato could see he was already exhausted. He was not stuck in the mud so much as unable to find purchase in it. It had a very watery quality to it, which prevented him from getting a good enough hold to get out of its grip. "Stinking, dirty, no good hyenas!" the buffalo continued. "They chased me! They wanted to eat me! Chased me in here! My sister helped me. We made a stand… but they left. Swore they'd come back with help! With more! Can't kill without their pack behind them! Mangy, scavenging, cowardly, dogs!"

"Where is your sister now?" Kato asked. The buffalo looked behind him, his eyes widening.

"Watch it!" he shouted. Kato jumped to the side just in time to avoid the goring horns of a female buffalo that sprang out of the grass behind him. Her eyes were wild with anxiety and fear.

"Stay away from him!" she bellowed, thrusting her powerful horns at the meerkat as he scrambled backwards.

"No! Wait! Stop! I'm no predator!"

The female took a moment to pause, moments away from trampling little Kato.

"Explain yourself," she demanded, and he did, his quiet voice barely making a tremor in the air, but it was enough to prevent another charge.

"Perhaps… we all got off on the wrong hoof," the female admitted after a brusque apology, which Kato thought a little inadequate for nearly crushing his skull.

"My name is Kweupe. That is my brother, Munoru," she explained, swinging her blocky head towards the stuck buffalo.

"And we are in quite a quandary…" she finished, hanging her head low, but then brightened up again. "No, no, we are not! Yes! You can help! Can't you?" she said, shocking even her brother, let alone Kato. "You… you're a meerkat. We've heard stories. Stories of how good you are at foiling predators. You can stay! Won't you? You'll help, right?"

Kato sighed almost indifferently. He felt sorry for these two, but what could he do to help? This was part of a hunt… part of the Circle. And he didn't feel like getting himself killed. Surely two buffalos could withstand a hyena attack? But then he saw Kweupe's eyes as she glanced up at him. They were misty and clouded… she obviously did not have good far eyesight, explaining why she had only stopped attacking when she was up close. Coupled with her brother's exhaustion, it would only take careful planning and a lot of patience for an able pack to bring them down. And Kato knew that hyenas were not merely stupid mongrels. Well… not all of them, anyway.

"I'm sorry," he finally said. "I'm only here for a drink." Kweupe snorted, suddenly all grit and flaming antipathy again.

"Sure, take your water. From the same waterhole that has consigned my brother to death! I have to go alone to get help from the herd and he will stay here until the hyenas come again…" she exclaimed, her voice strained with emotion.

Kato went to the waterhole, trying to be as stoic as possible.

"Perhaps _he _can find the herd?" offered Munoru. Kweupe shook her head.

"I may not be able to see well, but I can outrun a meerkat, and they'd never listen to him… for all we know we've been given up for dead already." Munoru shook his head, consumed with grief.

"This is all so hopeless!" he said. Kato, who was calmly drinking from the waterhole, felt his heartstrings tugged. He stood up with another heaving sigh. Could he really just sit back and let them be killed? Part of him said it was part of the natural order. Another part said he was a heretic and no longer constrained by such things, and that he had been a sentry once, born to protect. But these were buffalo, not meerkats. But others had risked their lives for him already… probably gave their lives.

Kato knew what his decision would be. He had known before he even saw the buffalo. He was not just on a mission. He was a living, breathing creature, with other living, breathing creatures around him. He couldn't abandon them. Not after he had seen what others had already done for him. He'd never live with more shame.

_This _was his mission now.

"Meerkat!" Kweupe said. "You're the only one around. We are desperate. There must be something… anything you can do. We've heard plenty of stories. We know meerkats are experts at foiling predators, right? You must be!"

For the sake of argument Kato replied, " Those stories are mostly fables. Even if they were true, there are very few meerkats out here that can do what they did. You want me to hold off an entire pack of hyenas until you go get help? You're willing to put your brother's fate into the paws of a lone meerkat?"

"We have no other choice!" Kweupe said, stamping the ground with her hoof. "Without the herd it will not matter if I stay or go, they will overwhelm us before midnight! Please… just to watch over him. You can leave when they come! I just… I can't stand the idea of leaving him alone… I may not make it back in time. If I stay my eyesight will be the death of both of us. The herd will never listen to a meerkat, they'll think you mad. Can't you just see this is all we have left to us? It's our only other possibility! We just…"

"I don't want to die alone," Munoru said simply.

Kato pursed his lips and looked to the sky, and then turned back to the female. He could see tears in her rheumy eyes. She loved her brother dearly. It was only this kind of desperation that would bring such a mighty creature down to begging a meerkat of all things for help. Kato remembered the words Bapoto had said of him. That he wasn't just a heretic on the run… that something else had come along when he came to the vervets. Good or ill, Kato knew that this was true.

"How long do we have?" he asked.

"Till nightfall at best," Kweupe replied, her voice tinged with hope. "I may arrive with the herd by then, but… I don't know."

There was a long, pregnant moment of thought. Kato would not turn these creatures down, even if they had been fit and healthy. He looked down at his paws, already thinking back to the tactics he had learned back in his colony that had kept him alive for so long.

"I may be a heretic," he murmured, "but that does not mean I can be nothing else."

He adjusted the leaf cape over his neck. The word still burned when he thought it.

Heretic.

Hero?

"It's going to be a long night," he said grimly. He looked up at Kweupe. "Find the herd and bring them as swiftly as you can."

"What are you going to do?" asked Munoru. Kato stared back towards the grass where the enemy would come from. He was a sentry again. He was a protector. A desperate task for a desperate meerkat. He knew that with this decision he had consigned himself to an early death. But how could he face his ancestors after death saying he had run away from his responsibility as a sentry? As a heretic, he may never reach the stars. But he would not sink any lower than he already had.

"I am going to do everything I can," Kato said, fondling the poison gourd at his side. He then smiled all of a sudden, shocking himself. He was just a meerkat, but he would show them why he was proud of it. "It's amazing how surprised others get when they figure out just how much that is."

As Kweupe hurried into the distance, Kato put his paws to the ground… and began to dig.

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"That leopard didn't say _anything_ about a _jungle,"_ Kafele groaned as they looked towards the solid wall of green that stood on the horizon. They were going west as the leopard had recommended. In fact, they were traveling near the very same distant grasslands that Kato had spotted several weeks before, when he was still scouting from the banks of Kwazulu's river borders. Like the little refugee, they knew where they were, just not exactly where or how far they were going. It was tough to say where they would end up, but the Pride Lands seemed like as good a place as any.

"Stop complaining, Kafele. It's still a long ways off, anyway," said Ghedi, sounding exasperated at his brother's constant bemoaning of their situation.

"It's not that, Ghedi. I just wish we had gotten some forewarning. And we've been living off scraps for some time now. And we're not built for the jungle… I heard jungle leopards like to torment lions that end up in their territory."

"Stop worrying, little brother! At least we aren't heading towards those mountains. The Great Kings only know what's beyond those."

Kafele sighed despondently, his stomach grumbling as vociferously as he.

"Probably just more of the same as here. Who knew being rogues would be so _hard?"_

Ghedi didn't know why, but he started laughing. It started as a sputtering chuckle, and then grew to full blown gaiety within moments. He started laughing so much, he had to stop and let the fit pass itself, plopping down onto the grass and curling his head over his chest as it shook something terrible. Kafele stopped and stared, until the infectious sound caught his throat as well. The two brothers so smiled for the first time in weeks. Ghedi bumped Kafele's shoulder with his wide snout.

"Hard?! Is that all you have to… ha ha ha ha! Is that all you have to say, Kafele? How about… heh heh… how about so ridiculously terrifying it's a wonder we have- haven't had a breakdown- hee ha ha…!!! You talk like… like it's an adventure or something!"

Kafele leaned against Ghedi, still struggling to form words until he took a deep breath and gave his rebuttal.

"Well, I- I ha- ha ha ha! hadn't exactly taken courses on this sort of thing! Why not make it an adventure? It's better than wandering everywhere with our tails between our legs like silly dogs, isn't it?"

There was wisdom in Kafele's words, but they still laughed long and loud about it, releasing the stress that had been building for so long.

Ghedi cleared his throat and leaped away from Kafele, causing him to fall to the ground with a yelp. Ghedi, in an unusually exuberant mood, leaped atop a nearby rock and posed in a manner he thought quite heroic.

"Very well then, little brother! I declare this to be our very first adventure! Two handsome rogues chased from hearth and home under circumstances most mysterious, never knowing where the wind will take them!"

Kafele stood up and put his front paws on the rock, looking up at his big brother.

"Is it going to be dangerous?" he asked as he joined in the play-acting, baring his teeth.

"Danger most deadly!" answered Ghedi with a daring shake of his half-grown mane.

"Will there be mysteries?" Kafele questioned with a sly turn of his head.

"Of the kind most maligned!" Ghedi shouted as he jumped over Kafele and landed behind him, hurrying to the top of a grassy knoll.

"And damsels in distress?" called Kafele behind him.

"Disconsolately so!" came the playful answer. Ghedi hurried to the knoll's peak, not caring for their shameless behavior. They were still young after all, and were fulfilling the duty of all young males. What did it matter if they left home under the circumstances they did? That was then, and this is now. Ghedi leaped away again, and then it was back to being semi-serious. The gravity of their situation was not lost on them. They were aimless and confused. But there was no time for self-pity. Whatever was going on, they had to make the best of it, and take comfort in the fact that they were brothers inseparable. They made for the jungle at a slow, but vaguely paranoid pace, and feeling much better now that they knew they could talk to each other again.

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A/N: Anyone else get that feeling of suspense yet? Kato's journey is turning out to be far more eventful and lethal than he first thought… let's hope his wits and a little underhanded poison is enough to do the trick.

I hope putting a little update for Ghedi and Kafele in there didn't ruin the flow of the story. I'll just take it out if you all don't like it. I just want to keep them in mind for when they actually become important. Ahem. Yes. Well. Read and review then.


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